


Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales

by HPFandom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, Explicit Language, F/M, M/M, Mpreg, Romance, Sexual Content, Slash sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-05
Updated: 2011-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-30 10:34:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 51,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10161245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HPFandom_archivist/pseuds/HPFandom_archivist
Summary: Draco Malfoy needs help, but his bitter godfather is unwilling to help...Until Snape realizes that Draco's condition might help him find out what happened to Harry. Better detailed summary inside.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Note from SeparatriX, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [HP Fandom](http://fanlore.org/wiki/HP_Fandom_\(archive\)), which was closed for health and financial reasons. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [HP Fandom collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hpfandom/profile).

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

**RATING:** M

**GENRE:** Romance/Drama

**WARNINGS:** Slash (don't like it, move along), mpreg, strong language, scenes of a sexual nature, mentions of child neglect and abuse, implied rape and incest, creature fic, bonding, probably more if my imagination goes really crazy lol!

**SUMMARY:** Harry Potter has been missing for five years while his lover has become more bitter and cruel than ever while caring for their young child. Life is hard enough and Severus is reluctant to even offer aid to his troubled godson…But when Draco Malfoy's condition starts mimicking the same symptoms Harry Potter was showing before his disappearance, helping him might help Severus, and the rest of the world, answer the question that has plagued them all for years: just what happened to Harry Potter?

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**PROLOGUE**

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"Once upon a time, in a land that is not as far away as one might think, there lived a hero with black hair and green eyes. Before he was even born a very bad man wanted him dead. His Mummy and Daddy went into hiding and they were very happy when the hero was born. When he was just a baby the very bad man found his family and killed them and he tried to kill the hero, but he couldn't because his Mummy's love made him safe. The bad man left a scar on his forehead, though, like a lightning. Then the hero was sent to live with very bad people who hated him and who hated magic! They were Muggles, you know.

"Then, when he was eleven, he found out he was a wizard and was sent to Hogwarts! At Hogwarts he saved a magical stone and fought the bad man a lot and he watched people die and he saved a bunch of people and he fought in a magical tournament and all sorts of stuff! He had a very hard, very sad life. He fell in love when he was in school with his teacher. The teacher was very mean, but the hero saw that he was truly a good man. Then they made love one night and magic created a very beautiful baby for them! The teacher never knew, though, because the hero got caught up in fighting a war. He spent a long time hunting down objects that would help kill the very bad man and one day, the hero had a baby girl! He couldn't take care of her, though, so he left her with a very nice lady while he fought the war.

"While the hero fought, the teacher who was also a spy helped take care of Hogwarts. One day the lovers were reunited, but only for a little bit. The very bad man tried to kill the teacher and the hero ended up killing the very bad man…But the hero disappeared after the very bad man died. The teacher ended up surviving and was very sad that he couldn't find the hero and he wasn't happy when he found the baby. He never liked the baby very much, but only because he misses the hero who loved him so much. And the teacher and the baby can never be happy until the hero comes back to save them both from their sadness."

A young girl with dark red curls and bright green eyes looked to her audience expectantly. Young Teddy Lupin rolled his eyes and shook his head, but said nothing more. He had learned after all this time spent with Addie that it would not do well to argue with her. His grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, smiled sadly at the young girl. The five year old seemed to know much more about the story than Andromeda would have expected. Severus Snape went through all of the trouble of keeping his daughter under glamours to keep people from seeing the truth of her parentage in her physical appearance….Only Andromeda had sensed them one day and had removed them, quite surprised to see such notable almond shaped emerald colored eyes. She had somehow inherited her grandmother's beautiful dark red hair and the eyes shared by her grandmother and birth father. Andromeda might have questioned Severus's claim on the girl at all if not for the fact that she shared his ears and his thin lips and his long fingers and a few other less notable features. She looked more like a Snape all covered up in stringy black hair and the awful nose her father deemed it necessary to curse her with. And those eyes…The blue Snape gave her was a lovely color, but not nearly so striking or perfect as their true emerald shade.

"The hero sounds an awful lot like Harry Potter," Andromeda commented as she always did.

"I know!" Addie exclaimed merrily, beaming up at the older witch.

"A lot of people say he died," Teddy said quietly. Andromeda might have reprimanded him if not for the sad look the boy carried. Andromeda frowned and wrapped an arm around her grandson and beckoned with her free arm for Addie to join them. The young girl frowned at Teddy and jumped to her feet, running to the couch where the pair sat and jumping onto the cushion Teddy was on instead of Andromeda's lap, as the woman had intended.

"Don't worry, Teddy Bear!" Addie exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. "I'll tell you a secret, okay?" she whispered, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "The hero is Harry Potter and I'm the baby! Well, I'm not a baby anymore…But…You know…He is alive! He's out there and he'll come back one day…You'll see!"

A loud banging on the door caused the children to jump and Andromeda turned to the clock. Right on time, just like always. She turned to Addie who was frowning deeply and hugging Teddy tighter. "Just don't tell my Father…He gets mad whenever I mention Daddy."

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**A/N:** My first story! Yay! This is just something to start it off with! I'm hoping to get the next chapter up asap and it'll have more to it! 


	2. Chapter 1

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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**CHAPTER ONE**

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Severus Snape slammed the door closed as he entered the house with his daughter. He watched with some satisfaction as Adele winced at the sound of it, but felt shame slowly creep over him as she shot him a fearful look. Why did she always look at him that way? He didn't hit her or do anything that she should truly be afraid of. He wasn't his father…Even if he hated the child, he would not dare become Tobias Snape.

Merlin, those eyes. Adele continued to stare at him with those green eyes. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Andromeda hadn't bothered putting the girl's glamours back up and he was too furious to find them down in the first place to do it himself. He wanted to…very badly he wanted to change her back to the way she was supposed to look. If he pointed his wand at her in the state he was in, though, he was afraid he would do some damage to her instead.

"Go to your room!" he barked.

Adele (or Addie as everyone else in this godforsaken world chose to call her) nodded mutely and spun around, running across the house to her bedroom on the opposite end. With luck, he would have more control over his emotions the time he needed to face her again and he'd be able to put the glamours back on her. He stood right in front of the door until he heard the slamming of Adele's bedroom door. Severus then growled and angrily picked his briefcase into his hands and threw it as hard as he could across the room, feeling oddly disappointed as it landed with a loud smack onto the kitchen floor a foot or two away from the wall. Maybe he would have felt better if it had done some damage to something…Maybe if it had hit the wall or left a dent somewhere or even broken something.

Sighing, Severus used his wand to conjure the briefcase and carried it to his office. No more childish displays…He really needed to keep a handle on himself. He set his briefcase down and sank into the chair behind his desk and used his wand to close the door as an afterthought. Adele would be confined to her room for now, but on the off chance she dared sneak out, Severus did not want to know about it. He didn't want to deal with her at all.

If Andromeda liked looking at the girl so much, maybe he could just give the girl to her. Or maybe Hermione Granger or Ginevra Weasley or someone else would take her. They were all bound to enjoy Adele's company far more than he did and her presence wouldn't pain them nearly so much as it did him. Severus had never been cut out to be a father, but especially when Adele's other father was gone, probably dead and if not, had abandoned them, it was especially difficult for him to care for her. He hated her. Maybe not as much as he should, considering he hadn't killed her or harmed her or given her away yet. But there was definitely strong disdain for the child. Little Miss Adele Regina Snape with the red hair of his true love and the same little nose as his true love and the same green eyes as them both. She was his punishment for all that he had done wrong in life and the constant reminder of all of the good things he had once had and had since lost.

Severus focused on his daily ritual instead of anything else. He opened his briefcase and pulled out the various sheets of parchment and quills and inkpots and the few thin handbooks and spread them out. He glanced over all of his notes once to see if there was anything he wanted to add before stacking everything up neatly in one corner of the desk and standing. He always made sure he brought everything home and looked them over once before starting dinner and would return to his office to continue his work once they were done eating. Ever since the war had ended he had taken up a position at the research laboratory at St. Mungo's, studying any new injuries or illnesses that came along and, more often, creating new healing potions for various things. He was brilliant…He had created a stronger cure for dragon pox that healed at a slightly faster rate and got rid of any scarring that was normally left behind. He had created treatments for the affects of particular Dark curses that had been used in the war and other things. Still, to this day, most people knew him because of the invention of a potion that would allow homosexual couples to procreate.

The damn potion that left him with the red haired brat across the house in the first place.

He had been working on it when he and Harry had gotten together and his only theory was that somehow Harry must have consumed it by accident…or even on purpose…He never knew with that idiot boy. He had had many doubts about Adele when Fleur Weasley first brought the child to him after the war, claiming that Harry had left her in her care and leaving her as one of very few who knew the truth about the girl. He had visited many healers to do paternity testing and all had come up with the same remarkable results: Adele Regina Snape really was the biological child of both Severus Snape and Harry Potter. He had, of course, been sure to Obliviate them after the fact. Word did not need to get out that he and Harry had ever been together, or that they had a child together.

To this day it was still his most successful creation. His most celebrated creation. To this day it still brought in many letters of thank yous from many grateful same sex couples. And Severus resented them all. Most felt the need to spread their sentimental nonsense with their many romantic tales of true love and blah blah blah, finally being able to have a real family with their soul mate. Severus hated them all. He wished them all a very miserable life.

Severus remained moody as he took out the food for supper and prepared it by hand. He could have used magic or even fixed up something simple for dinner, but he found he much preferred doing something a bit more complicated to help get his mind off of things. He whipped up some steak and kidney pie with jacket potatoes, sprouts (mainly because Adele hated them), and even some spotted dick for dessert. When everything was ready he poured himself a glass of wine and some grape juice for Adele and was about to set the table when there was a knock on the door.

It was an inappropriate time for guests and Severus might have just ignored it if he didn't think it would become annoying. With a heavy sigh he swiftly walked to the door, glaring as he opened it to find his godson standing there. Draco was very strangely dressed…He was covered from the neck down, even wearing gloves and a scarf despite the warmth of summer. And despite the night, he was wearing very large, black shades over his eyes.

"Severus," Draco said with a forced smile.

"Now is not a good time," Severus replied.

"It's important," Draco said.

"Then I'm sure you can find someone else more willing and more capable of aiding you. Good night, Draco," Severus said coldly, moving to close the door. Draco's hand shot out and he kept the door from shutting, earning a glower from his godfather. "Remove your hand at once."

"I need your help!" Draco pleaded in a tone that was undignified for the Malfoys.

"You will make due without it," Severus remarked coldly.

"Please!" Draco begged. "There's…There's something wrong with me!"

"Obviously," Severus sneered.

"Severus-"

"If you are ill, go to St. Mungo's. I'm a very busy man, Draco," Severus snapped.

"I can't go to St. Mungo's!" Draco exclaimed. "I can't see just anyone about this, Severus! This could get out to the Prophet or something and…Really, Severus, I wouldn't have come if-!"

Severus slammed the door in his face and cast up a few silencing and locking charms just in case. He then stalked back into the kitchen to finish getting dinner ready. Maybe he had been harsh with Draco, but that was the way it had to be. Severus had always been a harsh man, but he had had a soft spot for a few people and Draco had been his godson, one of those he cared for the most. Nowadays, though, even Draco couldn't mean anything to him. He was too bitter, too angry with the world to bear loving anyone anymore.

When the table was set, Severus braced himself before heading to the small hallway with the two bedrooms and the one bathroom. He didn't have a very large or fancy house. In fact, it was smaller than the house he had lived in before…The childhood home he had never been able to leave due to not making enough money. With St. Mungo's, though, he had finally made enough money to buy a house…It was a simple place, but Severus didn't want or need a lot of room. It was a one story house with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and dining room, a living room, an office, and a basement for his potion making. He did enjoy having a large backyard, mainly because he could grow his own potions ingredients there.

He didn't bother knocking. He walked in to find the five year old girl crying in bed and hugging the stuffed pink hippocampus that Hermione Granger had given her when she was a baby. Severus glared at her. "Stop that," he snapped. He then grabbed a chair and pulled it around to face her and sat down, drawing his wand. Adele's breath hitched and Severus rolled his eyes. "Come here, girl," he demanded.

Adele nodded weakly and sniffled and wiped the tears from her face and jumped out of bed and ran over to her father, standing up straight in front of him. Severus raised his wand and Adele squeezed her eyes shut, standing tense. Severus ignored her irrational fear of him and began performing the glamours so that her thick, luscious red curls became short, lank, thin, and black. Her cute little nose grew into an unattractive shape and length. And her pretty green eyes became a dark sapphire blue. Even her pretty skin with its healthy glow became sallow and sickly looking. She looked like his daughter now and was much more bearable to look at.

"Much better," he said quietly. "Dinner's ready."

Adele nodded and walked ahead of him into the dining room. They ate silently just like they always did. Afterwards she would politely thank him for making the meal as she always did and he would grunt in response. While he washed dishes, he would instruct her to read something…anything, though preferably something of higher intelligence than her actual age. What progress would she make mentally by being at the same stage as every other five year old? Even if she didn't understand things, it would help her learn. Once dishes were done, Severus would wait until she finished her reading and he would continue on from last night's piano lessons. Adele seemed to think of it as bonding…It was probably the only activity she enjoyed with her father. Severus liked to think of it as making her better. If she was going to be his daughter, she was going to be exceedingly talented and would have a lot to show for herself before she ever set foot in Hogwarts.

At eight he drew her a bath and brought his notes into the living room while she played around in the water for a bit before he helped her finish washing and then drying her and dressing her for bed. She would sit with him in the living room for another half hour, reading whatever he instructed her to while he looked over his notes some more. With no strange diseases that needed attending lately, Severus worked on less serious requests such as a patient who had inquired about a permanent sex changing potion. The hopeful woman-to-be was making quite a stir in the Wizarding world and Severus had gathered a lot of unwanted attention by agreeing to do such a thing, but it would earn him a lot of money and he always did enjoy a challenge.

At nine he was displeased to find that Adele had fallen asleep in her chair. He was tempted to wake her up and send her to bed, but decided to just carry her there himself. He took little care in "tucking her in" and instead just tossed a blanket over her and returned to his notes. All in all, the evening carried on like most did. It was routine, it was boring, but Severus liked it. He had lived too many years in fear and in suspense during the war. This was nice. This was something he could deal with.

Severus stayed up another few hours in his office working on the notes for the sex change potion. He figured within a few days he would be ready to start experimentally brewing it. At around eleven that night there was a tapping on his window. Severus glared and reluctantly let in the familiar owl. He watched it drop two envelopes on his desk and he was tempted to rip them up immediately. The owl waited and eyed him, though, and Severus sighed and opened the first one. It was from Draco.

Dear Severus,

Please reconsider and see me sometime soon. I would really appreciate your help. You are the only person I trust with this.

Sincerely,

Draco Lucius Malfoy

Severus set it aside and picked up the second envelope curiously. He sighed heavily when he realized it was from Draco's wife, Astoria.

Dear Severus,

I heard about your meeting with Draco today. I understand that you're dealing with a lot, but Draco needs you. He has been acting so very strangely lately and he will not even let me know what's going on with him! He must be ill and I cannot let him near Scorpius if he is contagious. You cannot really let a son and father be apart this way, can you? Draco cares for you a great deal and I know you have always cared for him. Please do the right thing and see him as soon as possible. He could be dying.

Sincerely,

Astoria Malfoy

The gall of the woman! Did she think guilt trips were going to work on him? He could imagine her haughty little figure scribbling up this letter. Astoria was meant for the Malfoy family…She had always thought she was better than everyone else. She loved playing wife and mother, though she was the type who was less interested in being a wife and mother so much as other people knowing she was a perfect wife and mother. She didn't care about Draco…She pretended to care because she was his wife and she was supposed to and because if Draco really was ill she would care either because it would be something that could harm her image as his wife or be in her benefit if he were to die. Severus disliked the young woman greatly, even before this stupid attempt to make him see Draco.

Severus picked up a quill and parchment, knowing the owl would never leave without a reply and began to write. To his surprise another owl flew in through the open window and left another envelope on his desk. Severus ignored it for the moment in order to finish his current letter.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy,

I am busy. Find someone else. As rare as it is to find someone with more than half a brain in their skull, I assure you there are at least a few others who will be competent enough to help you. I wish you luck.

-Severus T. Snape

Severus rolled it up and gave it to the brown and white owl and practically threw it out of the window. He glared at the other owl who was perched on his desk. This one seemed strangely familiar, as well. He curiously unrolled this letter and sighed heavily when he recognized the girlish, curly handwriting.

Dear Severus,

I was visiting Astoria today when my son came home very upset. He says you won't help him. There is something very wrong with my son, Severus! He barely leaves home, he's always so covered up, and he has seemed very disturbed for the past few weeks! He refuses to go to St. Mungo's because he fears it is something that would leak out into the press and you know how the Daily Prophet hates us. We may have avoided Azkaban because of those do-gooder Gryffindors, but we are still very much outcasts. The press would have a field day with this! You are the only person he trusts, Severus! You are his godfather! It is your duty to help keep him safe. You have always been one of his favorite people and you two have always been so very close. I realize that you have changed a great deal since the end of the war and inheriting a child, but it is time for you to grow up and see that life goes on and there are people who love you and need you. My son could be incredibly ill or injured and he could be dying and you would do nothing to aid him? If that is the case, then I honestly do not even know who you are anymore. I would be willing to forgive you once you see the error of your ways, but I simply cannot stand you if you would treat my son and your godson in such a manner. Please reconsider and see him as soon as possible.

All my love,

Narcissa

Like mother-in-law, like daughter-in-law. Severus's fingers tightened around the parchment, growing furious as he reread the letter several times. The nerve! Blasted women. Damn it Draco for tattling on him. He wanted badly to rip it to shreds, but sensing the same battle he sensed with Draco and Astoria's owl, he quickly responded.

Narcissa,

Your son would overreact to a paper cut. If he is that seriously ill or injured, he would get himself to St. Mungo's at any cost. If it isn't important, then he will be just fine without my help.

-Severus

There. That seemed fair. He gave the letter to the owl and sent it off and slammed the window shut angrily. People just couldn't leave him alone, could they? Feeling too irritated to get anymore work done, he put away his notes and walked out to grab the firewhiskey from the cabinets and settled down on the couch with it. He doubted this would be the last he heard from the Malfoys.

He made a mental note to purchase more firewhiskey before coming home tomorrow.

****

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A/N: Please review! 


	3. Chapter 2

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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**CHAPTER TWO**

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Two days later, Severus had the misfortune of running into Hermione Granger while dropping off Adele at Andromeda's house. He didn't even get inside of the house before he heard her voice screaming at her horrendous children. "ELIJAH ARTHUR! ISAAC ALVIN! STOP THAT! RIGHT NOW!" Severus rolled his eyes and patted the top of Adele's head, suddenly grateful to have a child with such decent behavior. He also thanked his lucky stars that he managed to get out of the teaching business. Merlin hope whatever professor those two Weasleys tormented when they turned eleven.

The door opened and Andromeda and Hermione stood there smiling at him. "Hi there, Addie!" Andromeda greeted with a smile, extending her hand to Adele. Severus glared at her. Why did everyone insist on calling her that?

"Hello, Severus," Hermione greeted coolly. He had never given her permission to use his forename, and she was normally much more respectful to her elders. She probably assumed that because she was the godmother of his child (not that he wanted her to be, he would add), she had the right to call him such a thing. "Elijah and Isaac decided they wanted to play with Teddy and Adele today." She at least used his daughter's proper name in front of him.

"Mrs. Granger," he said, making a point to be formal. He should have referred to her as Mrs. Weasley…She had married Ron Weasley shortly after the war, but had chosen to keep her maiden name…Probably some feminist move on her part. "Try not to let the gingers harm my child."

"They'll all be fine, Severus," Andromeda said, waving him off. "I may be getting old, but I can still care for children just fine."

Severus highly doubted that she was more competent than anyone else when it came to childcare, but he wouldn't say more to that. Adele only stayed in her care because Andromeda didn't charge him (not once he told her that Adele was Harry Potter's child) and Andromeda didn't work and was already caring for one child, her grandson Teddy Lupin. It was perfect.

"I was hoping to have a word with you, Severus," Hermione said as the two women stepped aside to let Severus and Adele in.

"It will have to wait. I have to get to work," Severus said, pushing Adele lightly in the direction of the living room where Teddy, Elijah, and Isaac were running around.

"I was going to go to St. Mungo's to see you, actually," Hermione said. "If you can multi task, it is very important."

"Do what you will, Granger. I do not promise to listen," Severus grumbled and headed towards the fireplace as he usually did, grabbing a handful of Floo powder. "St. Mungo's, research center," he announced clearly and several seconds later was stepping out into the hallway of the research center and walked briskly towards his office. He frowned when he heard the Floo flare up only moments later and the click of Hermione's heels as she followed after him, managing to catch up to walk beside him halfway down the hall. When he entered the office he made to slam the door, but Hermione shoved it back open and stepped inside, carefully closing it as Severus sat behind his desk.

"You made the Wolfsbane Potion for Remus our third year," Hermione said.

"I recall my accomplishes, yes, Granger," Severus remarked, pulling out his notes onto his desk.

"Well, I was wondering if you could perhaps say a few words about it?" Hermione asked. "I understand your dislike for Remus and maybe fore werewolves in general, but you cannot diminish the good that the potion does. When he was well cared for with the potion, Remus was fine."

Severus paused with his quill over his parchment and raised his eyes to her, raising an eyebrow.

Hermione took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I am working on strengthening my argument for werewolf rights and it would help having various sources that can work towards the argument. You are possibly the best potions master alive today, and very well respected around here, and having any word of yours towards this cause could really do some good," she explained. "And…" she looked hesitant, "I would be willing to pay you for any help you'd be willing to offer."

"Is that so?" Severus asked, smirking in amusement and setting his quill down and leaning back in his chair. "Shouldn't you be holding out only for those pure of heart, offering their aid out of love for the cause?"

Hermione flushed. "It is not a very popular cause at the moment, which is why I think this would be a wise investment."

"How much?" Severus asked, tracing his fingertip over his lips, considering her offer.

"Well…I've gathered about ten Galleons so far from the family," Hermione explained, looking a bit fearful.

"Ten?" Severus asked, letting out a whistle. "Must be the combined life savings of all of the Weasleys, hm?"

"They certainly don't have that sort of money lying around, so you must understand how important this is to us!" Hermione exclaimed indignantly.

Severus chuckled. "I am hardly in need of that sort of money, Mrs. Granger."

Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Do it for the money! Do it because it's controversial and it might be fun to piss people off! Do it because it might turn out well and it will make you look better than you already do! Do it because I came here asking you for help! Do it because…because Harry would want you to! Whatever might make it easier on your mind to do, just think of it that way. Please?"

His growing smirk of amusement quickly left whenever she mentioned Harry. Whatever enjoyment he took out of her getting worked up had gone and he was left feeling cold and empty. "I do not go out of my way to help anyone anymore, Mrs. Granger."

Hermione sighed. "Will you at least consider it?"

"Get out," Severus said coldly. "I have work to do."

Hermione opened her mouth to speak just as there was a knock on the office door. She closed her mouth and turned around to look at the door.

"Get out, Mrs. Granger. I am at work," Severus reminded her. "Come in!" he barked out to whoever was behind the door.

"Thank you for your time, Severus," Hermione muttered, walking out of the door and doing a double take as she left, eying Draco Malfoy oddly. Severus glared at his godson. He was dressed as he had been last night, only now he had a scarf covering the lower half of his face. The only skin Severus could see was a small sliver of pale skin on his cheek and the tops of his ears. "Leave, Draco."

"Severus, I really need your help," Draco said, voice muffled by his scarf.

"So I heard," Severus said dryly.

"You told me to go to St. Mungo's and, guess what? Here I am," Draco said in irritation. "Now will you help me?"

"No," Severus said.

"Goddamn it," Draco growled. "Would you fucking listen to yourself, Severus? You are being ridiculous!"

"Hardly a way to speak to the man you're so desperate to get help from."

"You're not helping!" Draco snapped.

"There are other people in this department, Draco! I am more than positive you that every healer and every researcher is bound by contracts of confidentiality when it comes to patients. As long as no one else is listening in, you and your precious reputation should be safe," Severus growled. "No stop bothering me with your irrationality and go get help if you need it so badly!"

The skin Severus could see looked pink. "Screw you, Severus," Draco muttered, spinning around and storming out.

Severus glared and after a minute flicked his wand to close the door. Hopefully he got all disruptions out of the way and the rest of the day would be relatively peaceful. Severus pulled out his books and picked up his quill to resume his notes.

While Severus went back to work, Draco trembled in his fury as he stalked back down the hallway towards the Floo area. Hermione turned away from a floor map as he passed her by and ended up bumping into him.

"Oh, sorry," Hermione said. She frowned and glanced back down the hallway. "No luck for you, either?"

"Not exactly," Draco replied, voice shaky and his gray eyes panicked. Hermione frowned in concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know," Draco replied miserably.

"Hmm…Well, I'm sure someone else will be able to help you. More than likely with a better attitude," Hermione said reassuringly.

"I don't trust anyone else," Draco said sharply. "That's the problem! He's brilliant and I know I can count on him and he won't tell anyone…I don't want any of this to get out to anyone. I'm getting really…" Scared, he had been about to say, until he remembered who he was talking to. "I have to go." He nodded curtly and began walking off again.

"Wait! Mal-Draco!" Hermione called out, jogging to keep up with him. "Wait…What if…What if I tried to help?" she asked breathlessly. "I know we're hardly friends, but I wouldn't tell anyone and I'm pretty sure I could help…and if not I could always come back and talk with a healer about your problems and give them the information and see what they know. If it's too difficult, I'm not positive it would work out well that way, but it's worth a try, if you're willing."

Draco looked at her suspiciously for a minute. Why would Hermione be willing to help him? Then again she and her husband had helped to keep him and his family out of Azkaban. It's what Harry would have done, what he would have wanted, they had told everyone. That might have helped their case the most. They also stayed out of the papers most of the time and they were good people, he guessed. He hesitated. He did need help, though…It was getting worse. Some days it wasn't so bad. Some days it was like nothing had happened at all. And then there were days like this, when it was horrible.

Draco nodded curtly. "When would be a good time?"

"Now, I suppose. I told the office I would be gone at least a few hours…a few hours more than needed, apparently," she said. "Where do you want to go?"

"We can go back to the manor," Draco replied uneasily. "I will need some sort of assurance that this remains private."

"Of course," Hermione replied. She followed shortly after him to the Floo. Draco couldn't help feeling a bit nervous, but Hermione had been the most brilliant witch at Hogwarts. If Severus wouldn't help him, then Hermione was probably the next best option…Other than going to an actual Healer, of course.

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A/N: Please review! 


	4. Chapter 3

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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CHAPTER THREE

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"What is she doing here?" Astoria Malfoy demanded the moment Hermione Granger followed her husband out of the fireplace. She was kneeling in front of the couch that her son was seated on, in the process of putting little black shoes on young Scorpius's little feet. The three year old boy looked up at them curiously.

"She's going to try to help," Draco replied, voice still muffled by his scarf. The fabric moved down a bit and Draco was hasty to pull it back into place. Astoria narrowed her pretty blue eyes at him before returning to the focus of dolling up her young Malfoy prince.

"As long as you're finally getting help then," Astoria said, moving to sit beside Scorpius on the couch to brush through his blond hair again. "It's about time, you know."

"Yes, darling, I know," Draco said. "We'll be in my office. Don't bother us."

"I didn't intend to," Astoria said coolly.

Hermione watched the exchange in a bit of surprise. She knew the Malfoys did things differently…Most purebloods held onto traditional ways of thinking, such as arranged marriages and being forced to marry someone you really didn't like that much. It was just sad to her thinking of being with someone she wasn't happy with and had no feelings for…and then to have a child with them? Hermione counted herself lucky to have Ron, even if he could be a git a lot of the time.

Draco led the way to his office and closed the door after Hermione stepped in. She waited silently while he put up several charms as a caution…silencing charms and locking charms and other forms of protection to keep anyone from entering or overhearing the conversation at all. When he was done he took a deep breath and walked over to sit behind his desk. Without a word to his guest he began writing on a sheet of parchment, terms of agreement. It wouldn't necessarily be legally binding, as it would take too much time and Draco was getting desperate, but it would be magically binding. If Hermione broke the terms of the contract then she would suffer. He made sure to write out clearly that she was not to tell anyone of his condition without his express permission, could not even hint to anyone that something was wrong with him. When he was done, he performed the necessary charms and slid it over to Hermione who read it over quickly and signed it.

"Okay, now you know I won't be telling anyone," Hermione said, motioning for him to stand. "Tell me what's wrong now."

Draco nodded and slowly reached up to slide off his shades. He looked at Hermione expectantly and she didn't notice anything for a moment, but she gasped when she paid closer attention to his eyes. They were…strange. The pupils were contracted and weren't even a proper black color…they looked dark gray. Then the silvery gray of his eyes were now very pale. There was something off about the whites of his eyes, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Th…That was just where it started," Draco explained quietly. With a deep breath he began removing his layers. First went the gloves where he showed her his nails…How pale yellow and thick and rough they looked. He then moved onto his scarf and followed by removing his coat. It wasn't until he unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt that she noticed it. A large portion of his skin was discolored, slightly dark and off white patches of skin that looked pink in some areas and was starting to look like a pale blue around the edges. The pink areas looked tender while the blue areas were rough where she trailed her fingers over them. Even his lips had a bluish tint to them. Hermione swallowed hard, hand shaking somewhat as she looked at Draco.

"H…How long?" Hermione asked.

"A little over a month," Draco explained quietly. "I noticed the eyes first. I didn't think much of it at first, only putting it off as a trick of the light or a hallucination or something, but it happened again a few days later. It doesn't…stay like this. Some days I look completely normal, other days this happens. I feel a bit nauseous on days like this and I usually have a fever."

Draco glared at Hermione as she continued to gape at him. She couldn't help it, though, as all of the memories came flooding back to her. "Ahh…Well…Ahem…" she finally said. "I…I've seen this before…once."

Draco looked surprised and hopeful. "Really? I've never-"

"It's the…Well, I'm pretty sure we can get Severus to help us now," Hermione said quietly.

The blond laughed bitterly. "How can you be so sure about that?"

"Because," Hermione said. "This…This is just like what happened to Harry."

"Potter?" Draco said, eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Harry had these same symptoms when we were finding Horcruxes," Hermione explained, biting her lip. "I apologize, but we never actually found out what was wrong with him…But…I dunno, really. But I think if we can find out what's wrong with you, maybe we'll see if that has anything to do with…with what happened to Harry…If he's…if he's dead or…or really ill somewhere," she said quietly, tears filling her eyes as she thought of her lost best friend. Everyone thought he was dead, considering he hadn't been seen in five years and Hermione just knew that something very awful must have happened if Harry would leave Addie with Snape for so long and never come see her…She was hopeful, though, that he could be alive and if he wasn't, well, figuring this out could give them some closure about Harry and hopefully save Draco from whatever this would do to him.

"Great," Draco muttered bitterly. "I could be dying…If this is contagious…"

"Harry's been gone five years, I doubt he gave it to you," Hermione snapped. "Besides, I'm sure your wife or your son would have gotten it if it's contagious."

"Not likely…I've been trying to stay away from them ever since it started and Astoria's very paranoid. She tries not to be in the same room as me, most of the time," Draco confessed with a shrug. He didn't seem bothered by his wife's lack of care.

"Yes, well, I'm sure we'll be able to figure this out," Hermione assured him with a frown. "I'll send an owl to the office and see if I can get the day off…I'll need to go home and look through all of my old notes and see if I can find what I wrote about Harry's condition and try to find some books that might help. I'll owl you later tonight and we can go to Severus's house later and try to appeal to him," Hermione promised. Severus surely had to listen to reason, especially if it could help them with Harry.

Draco looked extremely grateful, though he seemed to be trying to hide it. "Your help is very much appreciated, Gra…Mrs. Granger."

"You can call me Hermione, if you'd like," she offered, slightly pleased that he was being polite to her.

"And I suppose you can call me Draco, then, Hermione," he said. "I'll see you tonight."

"Good bye, Draco," Hermione said with a soft smile. "I promise, we'll get this all worked out."

Leaving Draco to put his disguise back on, Hermione walked out and closed the door and walked back to the living room, though Astoria and Scorpius were gone now. She grabbed some Floo powder and stepped into the fireplace and was about to head to the flat she shared with Ron and the twins, but ended up changing her mind at the last second. "The Burrow!" she cried out and stepped out of the fireplace into her parents-in-law's home. Molly smiled warmly at her from where she sat in a chair with her knitting, creating a blanket for the new grandchild on the way. Fleur was pregnant with her and Bill's second child, a little sister for little Victoire.

"Oh hello, Hermione, dear!" Molly said with a smile. "I wasn't expecting you today."

"I know, I'm sorry for just dropping in like this," Hermione apologized. She went on to explain but Molly quickly cut in.

"Oh no, dear, not at all. You know you are welcome here anytime. You're family," Molly reminded her. "I thought you would be at work by now."

"Yes, I probably should be, but something important came up. Would you mind if I borrowed your owl? I'm afraid I need to take the day off," Hermione explained, figuring she'd need to send a letter as soon as possible before she started on anything else.

"Of course, dear," Molly said, frowning slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"Kind of," Hermione explained. "It's not me or Ron or the kids, though," she quickly assured the woman. "I'm sworn to secrecy, though…I just need to help a friend and I'm positive I left something here that might help…I think in Ron's old room?"

"Oh of course," Molly said. "Do you need help with anything?"

"Oh no, Molly, but thank you," Hermione said. She felt rude just leaving Molly there, but she needed to get to work. She hurried into the kitchen to write a quick note to her department head and sent the owl with it. Hopefully that would take care of it. Even if they wanted her back, though, Hermione jogged upstairs to see if she could get some work done before she had to go. After the war she and Ron had packed up a lot of old things into boxes and left them in his old bedroom, not wanting to bring any of it with them just yet, but things they still wanted to keep as reminders. There was a box, Hermione remembered, full of notes she and Harry and Ron had written out about Horcruxes and plans for breaking into the Ministry and into Gringotts, a lot of the books they had used to help them with it, and every issue of the Daily Prophet published during Voldemort's reign and the few months after the war had ended. That was mainly Hermioen's doing. She hoped to sit down with all of it one day and read through them and really understand better what was going on and maybe even create something in honor of the war with them. Hermione had nearly forgotten about those boxes until a few minutes ago when she realized that what she needed to help Draco would not be at home.

Halfway down the hallway she ran into someone walking out of one of the bedrooms. "Oh I'm sorry…Oh, Charlie!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly. "I didn't know you were here!"

"I just got in about an hour ago," Charlie admitted with a smile, hugging her. "I'm actually here on business so I'll probably be here for a few days. You and Ron should bring the twins over for supper tonight and we can all catch up."

"I'll try to see if we can make it…I have something to do this evening, but if we can't make it we'll try for tomorrow," Hermione assured her brother in law. It was good to see Charlie. He lived in Romania and they rarely saw him, so Hermione was sure everyone was excited by the prospect of having him around for a few days. Hermione, however, had her mind too much on her new project to think much of it. "It was good seeing you, Charlie! Have a good day at work!"

Charlie chuckled and walked downstairs while Hermione ran into Ron's old room and grabbed the nearest box and pulled it onto a bed with her. There were the newspapers. Knowing that was the wrong box she pushed it aside and summoned another box with her wand. The next box had nothing but books so she set that aside, too. The next box had stacks and stacks of parchment so Hermione made herself comfortable and held the parchments in her hands and went through them. There were several lists of Horcruxes…the same lists with the same things written and rewritten and rewritten again. There were tons of parchment with various Dark curses all of which were crossed out, since none had succeeded in harming the Horcruxes. There were also multiple lists of places they thought of visiting to hunt for Horcruxes. There was even a list of all of the Muggle-borns they knew, written up when they had nothing else to do but think of the people they cared about and wondering if anyone they knew was alive or dead or injured.

Finding nothing there, Hermione moved on to another box, again this one was filled with nothing but books. The next had more notes that Hermione looked through. Halfway through she found more personal writings. One was a huge list of baby names Hermione had written up, when Harry had asked for her help in naming the baby, boy and girl names since they didn't know what the baby was going to always included meanings, because it felt important to her for a name to have a good meaning and Harry agreed.

Richard - powerful ruler

Thaddeus - heart

Emmett - universal, strong

Erhard - strong resolve

Adele - noble

Alexis/Alexander - defender

Nicole/Nicholas - people of victory

And various others that Hermione remembered reading in a baby name book she once bought to help name various pets. Hermione smiled at the memory of coming up with names and helping give Harry the idea of Adele Regina Snape when he gave birth and still couldn't quite decide on a good name. He did seem to like the idea of naming his child after one of his parents, but he said Severus probably wouldn't have liked it and hoped Hermione could help him choose a name she thought Severus might like. Adele wasn't very common, but it was strong and had a good meaning and she figured out of all of the girl names she had looked at, it seemed the one that most fit something both Harry and Severus would like.

She smiled sadly and was pulled out of her memories when the owl returned with a Ministry official letter. It was from her department head granting her the day off and wishing her well, but instructing her to make no excuses for not coming in the next day. Hermione summoned a quill and inkpot and wrote back her assurances that she would be ready to work tomorrow and then resumed her task of hunting down her notes. It took an hour of going through everything, but she finally thought she located all of the notes she had taken on Harry's condition, a few pictures she had managed to take, and all of the books she once thought might be able to help them help Harry with his problem. It created a rather large stack on the bed and once Hermione neatly packed away the other boxes and stacked them back up, she took the pile and transfigured the pillowcase on one of the pillows into a bag and made a mental note to change it back and return it the next time she was here.

Now all she had to do was go home and read over everything again and then she would write to Draco and let him know she was ready. Perhaps they'd just go wait at Andromeda's house and wait to ambush Severus when he went to pick up Addie. She smiled to herself at the thought and walked back downstairs to spend a little bit of time with her mother-in-law before getting back to business. Severus wouldn't be done with work until late in the afternoon, anyway.

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A/N: please review! 


	5. Chapter 4

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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**CHAPTER FOUR**

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"That is not Addie," Draco said, eyes wide (not that anyone else could notice) when he saw the little red haired green eyed beauty. Addie was seated at the piano, slowly playing one of the songs her father had been teaching her, though she kept messing up when the boys came around, climbing onto the bench and bugging her enough to make her stop and scream at them to go away.

"Yeah, it is," Hermione said with a frown. "You know Addie…I mean, Adele, is Harry's daughter. Don't you?"

"He never exactly admitted it, but I had a feeling," Draco admitted. "But…I mean…How…?"

"Severus puts glamours on her," Andromeda explained, walking into the room. "It slipped my mind that I should have put them back on before you arrived with your guest, Hermione," the older woman admitted sheepishly. "Addie, come here, darling. Teddy, leave her hair alone!"

"But…why?" Draco asked.

"Because she looks too much like Harry and too much like Lily," Hermione explained. "Not that he'd ever admit it, but I'm sure that's it. He doesn't want any reminders of them if he can help it."

"But…she's so…she's actually decent looking this way," Draco said, watching as the girl twisted around and hopped off of the bench, bouncing over to her babysitter.

"Fortunately for some people, looks aren't everything," Hermione said stiffly. Andromeda was also glaring at him as she pulled out her wand.

Draco scoffed. "Not to people like you, but a lot of people are very shallow. Severus was teased for his own looks a great deal when he was younger, and it surprises me he would want to ensure that his daughter faces the same cruelty."

He hadn't actually meant it in that way…It only came naturally for him to say things about the way people looked or insinuating negative things. But he didn't like the fact that the two women were getting so worked up over a seemingly innocent comment and was very pleased when their harsh looks softened. Andromeda smiled at Addie sadly before working on putting the glamours back on and Hermione politely offered Draco a seat beside her when she sat down on the loveseat across from the sofa Andromeda and Addie were on.

Within a few minutes, Adele was looking more like the little girl Draco remembered seeing…Though he had only ever really seen her a few times in his life. Severus was less social now than ever, and far nastier than he had ever been. Harry's absence must have really gotten to him. The poor girl looked more miserable now that she had her nasty black hair and blue eyes and sickly skin. A red haired boy named Elijah ran up and slapped her on the arm. "Tag, you're it!" Elijah Weasley declared before running off after his brown haired twin Isaac Weasley. Teddy Lupin ran after them.

"I DON'T WANT TO PLAY NO MORE! I mean…ANYMORE!" Adele shouted after them.

"BOYS, NO RUNNING INDOORS, YOU KNOW BETTER!" Hermione shouted.

"TEDDY REMUS LUPIN, YOU GET BACK HERE!" shouted Andromeda.

Draco cringed at all of the shouting. He sat waiting anxiously while the boys all rushed back in and the women fussed at them and told them to play nice. Addie decided she didn't want to play with them, though, and went back to the piano. The women then started a conversation about the children…What the twins had done that day, what they had eaten, when they had napped, and other boring motherly stuff. Draco was just ready for Severus to show up so that they could get this over with. Hopefully Hermioen was right and they could convince Severus to help him…Surely if Severus and Hermione were working on this they could help fix him.

"Oh, Andromeda, do you have a room we can possibly borrow when Severus arrives? Draco is rather insecure and worried about particular things being known," Hermione said finally.

"I am not insecure," Draco replied.

"Oh, you could use an office…Though I might just go upstairs with the children, in case you can't just convince him to go into the library or the office or anything," Andromeda explained. "If I have Addie upstairs, anyway, it should give you more time to talk some sense into him."

"Not that anyone can," Draco muttered, more to himself than anything, though Hermione and Andromeda laughed bitterly and nodded in agreement. Severus was stubborn and as he was more miserable than ever, was more than happy to bring everyone down with him. It would take a lot to get him to agree, but maybe…just maybe…this having something to do with his old lover would help him see things their way. It could go very well or it could turn very nasty, but that wouldn't be much of a change from his currently negative behavior.

A few minutes later, Andromeda stood and headed out of the living room and up the stairs, calling after the children. "Teddy! Addie! Isaac and Elijah! Dromeda has a surprise for you all upstairs!"

The enthusiastic cheers of the children was deafening and Draco and Hermione watched as they all ran out from various directions and storming upstairs after her. Andromeda had better have a very good means of distraction, Draco thought to himself. Especially with two Weasleys in her care. Once they were out of sight and he could no longer hear them, Draco turned to look at the clock. He would be off work by now…here any minute. Draco's stomach twisted almost nauseatingly in his excitement and nervousness.

The minutes seemed to take forever to go by, but finally there was a loud knock on the door. Draco and Hermione sat up straight and looked at each other. Before they could move, Andromeda's voice called out clearly and loudly as though she were in the room with them, "Come in!"

A minute or so longer than necessary, the door opened and Severus walked in grumbling. He was stuffing a stack of parchment into his bag and the time he looked up to see them, he glowered at them. "I do hope neither of you actually hopes to achieve anything by stalking me," Severus remarked, glancing around. "Andromeda?" he called, walking swiftly behind the couch. Hermione quickly jumped to her feet and Draco followed suit and followed her after him, hastily jumping in front of Severus before he could leave the living room. He glared at her and tried to walk around, but Draco quickly covered that side.

"Severus, Draco is showing similar symptoms that Harry was the last year of the war…when he was pregnant with Addie-Adele," Hermione said quickly.

That got him to stop. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "I would like to collect my daughter and leave, Mrs. Granger."

"I can prove it," Hermione said quickly. "And if we can figure out what, exactly, is wrong with Draco, we can maybe find out what happened to Harry…It could be related to his…disappearance."

A flicker of hope flashed through Severus's black eyes, but disappeared and hardened into his usual frostiness. "I do not have time for your foolish games, girl."

"This isn't a game!" Hermione cried. "If Harry's still alive and we find out what's wrong we can find him and we can help him! He could…he could come back!"

"He's never coming back!" Severus hissed.

"He certainly won't if you don't even try," Hermione challenged, tone sharp and her dark brown eyes narrowed at her ex professor. "If you loved him you wouldn't be giving up on him at all."

"Leave the manipulations to the Slytherins, Granger," Severus spat. "I will not be tricked into playing this little game. Do not use whatever affections I may have had for that little boy hero against me because I assure you, Granger, I am not a good man and I will not bend to your will merely because you mentioned his name."

Draco could tell that Hermione was not going to get anywhere with this. Severus had his mind set and he would refuse any request anyone made. He wasn't going to be bossed around…even the simplest request was too much for him. But they needed him and there was no other means of manipulating him. Draco could think of one thing that might work, and if it didn't then he knew he would be in deep shit. He had to at least try, though.

"Think of it as a challenge," Draco piped up. Hermione and Severus tore their glares away from each other and onto him. "You think I was doing nothing in my refusal to go to St. Mungo's. I tried to diagnose myself. I ordered every medical book I could get my hands on. There is nothing like this, Severus. Even Gra-Hermione doesn't know what it is. I doubt I could go to a Healer and get any sort of explanation from them, either. I have money…I can pay you, if that's what you want. Do you want fame? If you can figure out what this is, find a treatment or a cure? You'd be a legend! You're brilliant, Severus, but if you can do this, your name will go down in the history books! Everyone will know your name, everyone will respect you…And it's a challenge! It's not stupid or anything. It's interesting. At least look at me before making any rash decisions. Leave that up to the Gryffindors."

Draco held his breath as he watched his godfather. He could practically see the wheels turning in his head. Hermione, though, was watching Draco, though he wasn't sure why.

"If you are wasting my time, I will hex you both into next week," grumbled Severus, setting down his belongings on the couch and motioning for Draco to get on with it.

He felt a bit relieved as he hastily removed his shades. This didn't mean much, but at least Severus would consider it. He didn't dare breathe easy just yet. He pulled off his scarf and his gloves and then yanked off his coat, deciding to leave it at that for now. Severus, ever controlled, only raised an eyebrow, the briefest flicker of surprise and interest entering his black eyes. Hermione gasped sharply and that concerned Draco.

"Your eyes! They're worse than they were earlier!" she said. She quickly dug around in her pockets and produced a small mirror to show him and Draco's eyes grew wide. His pupils were more constricted, the gray even paler, and the whites of his eyes were definitely different…He could just barely detect it…the palest of pinks, blues, and greens starting to appear in light swirls, like the smallest drops of colored paint into a large glob of white paint. It was just barely noticeable, only to people truly looking for something wrong saw it. There was also a blue shadow starting to appear all around both eyes. Draco swallowed hard and shakily handed the mirror back.

"I think this is the worst it's been," he confessed quietly, starting to feel terrified. He could wake up tomorrow and be back to normal, or he could wake up tomorrow and have his entire body be blue! He looked from Hermione to Severus helplessly. Hermione opened her mouth, looking ready to speak, but one look at Severus and she remained quiet. Severus tapped his finger against his lips as he stared at Draco for the longest time.

"Take off your clothes," he finally instructed.

Draco didn't question it. His fingers trembled as he unbuttoned his shirt and let it drop to the floor, then yanking down his pants until he was standing in his socks, shoes, and briefs. The strange splotches covered a bit more of his body…The largest one was on his chest, though there were a few smaller areas…Three on his back, two on his left leg, and one on his forearm. Severus walked slowly around him, black eyes boring into the younger wizard. He reached out to touch the spots on his back, feeling the differences in texture.

"Are there any other symptoms?" Severus finally asked after several long minutes.

"Nausea and a fever," Hermione responded for him.

"And…mild headaches," Draco added. He had forgotten to tell Hermione that.

Severus nodded and walked back to the couch, leaning against the back of it. "And the other case?"

"Very similar. The biggest difference, I think, is the coloring," Hermione explained. She walked over to sit on the couch and began digging through the bag she had brought with her. Draco and Severus walked back around, Draco sitting beside Hermione while Severus sat across from her. She pulled out the pictures and placed them in front of Severus. Draco curiously leaned over to look, as well.

"His eyes were changing…Same constriction of the pupil, but as you can see, the irises were behaving differently," Hermione said. The picture was a close up of Harry Potter's eyes. His pupils were tiny and the green of his irises and the whites of his eyes were brighter somehow, only there was a large circle around the emerald orbs that was a dark brown color with a faint hint of black and purple mingled in with it. It was weird and too different for Draco's liking. He frowned and looked up at Severus who wore a very odd look on his face…His expression was as stony as ever, but there was an incredibly anguished look in his black eyes that dampened the overall affect.

Hermione cleared her throat and went on, adding more pictures to the group. "His skin was doing the exact same thing, only the color around the edges was different, too. His progressed further, though, as you can tell from his stomach."

These resembled Draco's symptoms much more. There were pale splotches on his skin, tender pink all around them, and a small ring of a different color around them. Instead of pale blue like Draco's, Harry's varied from dark purple to dark gray to black. To Draco's horror, though, he saw what Hermione meant. A large area of Harry's stomach had turned a completely different color…A mix of black, gray, and brown. The further up it went, the more charred it looked, as though he had been burned. Draco also noted that the discolored areas covered a greater part of his body.

"It felt a lot like Draco's, according to my notes," Hermione explained. "The…black, I suppose it is, area was very rough feeling…tough…very thick. It was strange…Then…His nails looked a lot like Draco's, too," she said, producing another picture. That, at least, didn't look much worse than Draco's. "They were very thick, though they looked like they were starting to crack or something."

Severus nodded his head, touching each picture gingerly and straightening them out along the table. "What else?" he asked quietly.

"Well, a lot of the same things Draco told us. Nauseous, though I just thought that was because of the pregnancy," she admitted. "Then the fever…I'm surprised he lived with how high it would get. He had migraines, instead of 'mild headaches.' Hmmm…Oh yes, his magic became a bit…wild, I suppose you could say. That, as well, I contributed to the pregnancy, though since it's not overly common with pregnancies, that could very well be a symptom of this."

"Hmm," Severus said.

Draco watched him anxiously while his mind raced with the new information. Would this become him? Was this killing him? He looked frantically to Hermione, but she was too busy pouring over her old notes while Severus stared at pictures of a could-possibly-be-dead lover. It was just going to get worse. He had so many questions…Like how fast it had progressed and if Harry had been in that state in any sort of frequent manner, but the words were stuck in his throat and he could barely gather his thoughts.

"Tell me, Mrs. Granger, do you enjoy your work?" Severus finally asked.

"Yes, of course," Hermione said, blinking in surprise. "Why?"

"I feel that if you worked in the research center, it would be much easier than having to work around both of your schedules," Severus replied.

"Oh, I don't know, Severus," Hermione said smirking. "I have too many causes to fight for." She seemed very pleased and Draco tried not to let out a sigh of relief. Severus was going to help him!

"Yes, well, you do not have to be in the Ministry to fight your many causes," Severus retorted. He stared at the pictures a bit longer before gathering them up and handing them to Hermione. "Owl me with the date of your earliest convenience. We have much work to do and it would be best to start immediately. Try to get this mess organized before such a time."

"Will do, Severus," Hermione replied, trying and failing miserably to hide her grin. Severus ignored her as he stood and swept away while Hermione shoved all of her things back into her bag. "I do believe we have hope, Draco," Hermione said quietly once Severus was upstairs.

****

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A/N: Pretty please review! 


	6. Chapter 5

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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**CHAPTER FIVE**

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Dear Severus,

I'll need to go to work again tomorrow, but I did find out that I have a lot of vacation days saved up from over the past few years and I can probably take a week or two off to help you with Draco's case. I can meet you in the office Sunday morning, if that's alright with Draco. I'll bring whatever I can that might be useful. Let me know when we have an official meeting time. Take care!

Sincerely,

Hermione

It was the evening after Severus had been coerced into looking at Draco and found the letter waiting for him when he got back home with Adele. He was a bit irritated that he had ended up giving in to their demands, but it was very strange and if this had been what was happening to Harry…if it could let them know anything about the young wizard…Severus was a little afraid that the results would come back and be less than gratifying. Damn Hermione for putting any hope into his heart that Harry could still be alive…that he could be out there and that Severus might get him back one day.

"Can I read Beedle Tales today, Father?" Adele asked quietly, breaking the silence they had carried since leaving Andromeda's house. He hadn't even said anything to anyone, only walking in and taking Adele and leaving to come home.

"Beatle tails?" Severus asked in confusion, being pulled from his thoughts.

"Yeah…You know…That Aunt Hermy did? With the…the hairy heart and the…three brothers and them?" Adele asked.

"We do not have that book," Severus replied and rolled his eyes in irritation.

"Oh," Adele said sadly. Andromeda had it and she had read one of the stories to her and Teddy today and now Adele wanted to read the rest. It was a very good book. Andromeda had told them how Hermione had translated it so that everyone could read it. Maybe Hermione would have a copy she could read, Adele thought to herself. She'd ask the next time she saw her godmother.

"Try reading this tonight," Severus said, walking over to the bookshelf and pulling out The Magician's Nephew. It was a bit above her current reading level, but she'd never get better if she wasn't challenged. Adele frowned at it but nodded and sat down on the couch and opened the book. "If you have trouble with it then reread Leah's Lost Leprechaun." It was a ridiculously easy, childish picture book that would hopefully encourage Adele to really put an effort into reading the other book. He hid a smirk at Adele's grimace at the mention of the children's book and made his way to the kitchen and fixed her a simple turkey sandwich with a glass of pumpkin juice and set them on the table for her. "This is your supper. Do not disturb me unless it is an emergency. I will be out in time to get you ready for bed."

"Yes, Father," Adele said quietly, holding the book closed in her lap. Severus didn't care enough to scold her about going to eat or opening the damned book. He had more important matters on his mind. He locked himself in his office and sat behind his desk, quickly writing two notes.

Mrs. Granger,

Draco agreed to keep his schedule open and is ready whenever we are. We will meet in my office Sunday at 8 A.M. sharp.

-Severus T. Snape

He rolled that parchment up and began writing on another.

Draco,

Granger is taking time off work for you. Meet us at my office at 8 A.M. Sunday morning.

\- Severus T. Snape

He rolled this one up as well and gave them both to his owl and sent him along with instructions to bring them to Hermione and Draco. Once the owl was gone, Severus took out the medical books he had brought home with him. He had spoken with one of the most respected healers at St. Mungo's just today about the symptoms Draco and Harry had had without giving out names. The man hadn't heard of anything like it…Hermione and Draco had both also confessed to doing some research and coming up with nothing. Severus figured it wouldn't hurt to check over the books himself and had even brought home a few books on older diseases that were said to not exist anymore, just in case. He had many stacks of very thick books…He sensed a long night ahead of him, but he was eager to throw himself into his new project.

While Severus began his work, Hermione Granger was just stepping into the Burrow holding her son Isaac in her arms and was followed out of the fireplace shortly by her husband Ron who was holding Elijah. She hadn't been able to get done with Severus and Draco in time for dinner last night, but promised to bring her husband and sons by tonight. Already they could smell the delicious food being cooked by Molly in the kitchen.

"UNCLE CHARLIE!" Isaac immediately shrieked.

"UNCLE CHARLIE!" Elijah echoed.

Isaac wiggled around in her arms so Hermione put him down and smiled as he ran towards his uncle with his twin not far behind. Charlie grinned and stood up and grabbed the boys into his arms. "Ah there are my two favorite nephews!" he said with a grin.

"They're your only nephews," Ron remarked.

"That's why they're my favorite," Charlie said.

"Feels nice being ignored by my own nephews," said Ginny Weasley from the sofa. Hermione felt guilty because she hadn't noticed the presence of Ginny and her fiancé Neville Longbottom, either.

"Say hi to Aunt Ginny," Hermione told the boys.

"Hi Aunt Ginny!" the boys exclaimed, waving to her as Charlie put them back on the ground. They weren't as excited as they had been to see Charlie, though. Ginny sighed dramatically and Charlie just laughed.

"Well they see you all the time, Gin," Ron said. "Charlie's never around. Plus he plays with dragons."

"DRAGONS!" the boys yelled in union.

"I want to see a dragon, Uncle Charlie!" Isaac exclaimed.

"Me first!" Elijah argued.

Charlie laughed and sat on the couch with the boys and a stack of pictures he had taken in Romania. He described each of the dragons as he showed them. Norberta the Norwegian Ridgeback…Petra, a Peruvian Vipertooth…Eugen a Romanian Longhorn…and many, many others. He recounted a few of his latest tales involving the dragons, and while Ron sat with Hermione, Ginny, and Neville, he looked longingly to his brother and sons, looking more interested in their stories than anything the other adults were talking about. Hermione couldn't help but smile fondly at him from time to time as she caught up with Ginny and Neville. Ginny talked about how awful training was this season, as she was a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies and Neville told of how he wasn't too happy with the Auror department and said it just wasn't for him. Mostly, though, they talked about the upcoming wedding…Neville groaning about how much his grandmother was bothering him about it and both agreed that Augusta Longbottom and Molly Weasley were taking over and it was driving them insane.

"I swear Mum and Augusta are at war over whose wedding dress I'm doing to wear," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "They both seem to ignore the fact that I already bought my own gown."

"I remember that argument," Hermione said with a sigh. Her own mother and Molly had both wanted Hermione to wear their gowns, but Hermione ended up making a loud comment about eloping to Ron one day while Jean Granger and Molly argued and that had managed to get them to shut up about it…Mainly got them fussing at Hermione and Ron about how they couldn't elope, but at least it had ended the gown war.

"So what are you doing here, Uncle Charlie?" Hermione heard Isaac ask.

"Yeah, Charlie, why are you here?" Ginny asked teasingly. "We thought we were finally rid of you!"

"Ha ha ha," Charlie said sarcastically, grinning as he rolled his eyes. "You don't read the Prophet?"

Hermione was confused. Ginny also didn't seem to know what was going on.

"Ginny's coach has been riding them hard the past few weeks," Neville explained. "I don't think she's had time to read that between work and planning the wedding."

"Hermione's been working on some top secret project," Ron said.

Ginny laughed. "Boys, I think Hermione and I can speak for ourselves." Hermione laughed, too, and nodded her head.

"I usually read the Prophet but I guess I haven't in the past few days," Hermione explained. "Why, what happened?"

"A couple of dragons are loose around the area," Charlie explained. "Two of the newer guys weren't careful enough and a Vipertooth and a Longhorn escaped and somehow made it to England. The Longhorn attacked in Mould-on-the-Wold a few days ago, which is where we caught up with it. He was seen by a few Muggles so the Ministry's been around…We managed to get the Longhorn back, but the Vipertooth is a bit harder to catch since they're so fast. We've managed to keep it from leaving the country, but it's going to be work getting it back to Romania. The Ministry's trying to decide if they should execute it or not to save the trouble, but my supervisors have been appealing to them to give us more time to get her back to the reservation," Charlie explained. "But that's just what was in the papers."

"There's more?" Ron asked, eyes wide.

"Mhm," Charlie said. "When we were trying to get Petra to come with us, we found she had made friends with another dragon, a Hebridean Black. This was in a forest around Godric's Hollow. But the Black isn't ours and we think someone's been keeping it illegally. The area it was hanging around had a small cabin and it seems a wizard or witch lives there, though we can't tell who it is…No one's been there when we go to check, though we know they've been back because of things having moved around during each visit. We're trying to get people to stay stationed around the area to talk to whoever it is whenever they show up. The Black actually seems pretty tame, considering, and the fact that we haven't heard much about there being a dragon in the area. No one in Godric's Hollow remembers seeing it before. He's pretty nice, but when we try to get him to come with us…well, none of our tactics have worked so far. We're thinking it probably doesn't want to leave his owner."

"Bloody hell," Ron said, looking amazed.

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded, looking pointedly at the twins.

"Oops," Ron said unapologetically.

"That must be pretty awful," Hermione said, focusing on the subject at hand. "Was anyone hurt?"

"Petra severely injured two witches and Eugen injured three wizards and killed a Muggle, though that was an accident, I think. He got a bit defensive when we tried to capture him and he went a bit wild," Charlie explained with a frown. "They've been on the reservation longer than most so they're well behaved than most dragons of their kinds, but as you can tell…just them being around is dangerous, whether they're trying to hurt people or not. I can only hope the Ministry lets us do what we can instead of just trying to execute them on the spot. I hear Shackelbolt's been arguing with the Romanian Minister for days over the incident…I don't blame him, this is a pretty big thing to go down."

"Yeah," Hermione said frowning. "I do work in the Department for the Regulation and Control for Magical Creatures, so I'll see if there's anything I can do to help…I'm taking a vacation for the next week or so, but I can drop by every other day and see what can be done and see if I can convince them to give your team more time."

"That would be great, Hermione," Charlie said gratefully. "I almost forgot you were a Ministry witch. Knew there was some good having you in the family."

"Thanks," she laughed at his teasing.

"Whoa, wait…You're taking a vacation?" Ron asked, confused. "When did that happen?"

"I requested time off today…It's a paid vacation, don't worry," Hermione assured him. "And don't give me that look, Ronald, I'm hardly going to have leisure time."

"Don't tell me," sighed Ron, "that you're taking a break from work to do more work."

Hermione flushed. "This is very important, Ron!"

"So you say," Ron muttered. "I don't even get to know about it."

"Because it's none of your business!" Hermione hissed angrily. Ron could be such a child sometimes! Hermione didn't like not being able to tell him things, but Draco was very serious about her telling no one. And even if she trusted Ron not to tell the Prophet, that didn't make it right for her to tell him just because he wouldn't tell. It would be very wrong of her to do.

"Ron, stop being a prat," Ginny cut in before Ron could say anything else.

"Just let Hermione do what she will, Ron," Charlie added. "If you fight her on this, you'll be in deep shite, you know."

"Charlie!" Hermione hissed, eying the twins.

Isaac giggled. "Uncle Charlie said shite!"

"Isaac Alvin, don't you dare say that again!" Hermione snapped.

"Sorry," Charlie said sheepishly.

"Isaac said shite, Mummy!" Elijah laughed.

"Elijah Arthur! Ugh! Say it again and you won't get dessert and you'll be going to bed early," Hermione warned.

"Charles Septimus Weasley! Do not teach my grandsons such foul language," Molly fussed as she walked into the living room. "Hello, dears. Dinner will be ready soon and Arthur's on his way." She smiled and leaned down to open her arms as Isaac and Elijah jumped off of the couch and ran to give their grandmother a hug. "Ron, why on earth do you look so moody?"

"Because his wife's a real woman who won't bow down to him and give him everything he wants," Ginny said.

"I did not say that!" Ron argued, glaring at his younger sister.

"You two are not children anymore. There is no need to argue that way," Molly said sternly. Ron and Ginny glared at each other in a childish manner and Charlie snorted.

Hermione just sighed. She could handle Ron being stubborn and moody about things…He was so immature sometimes but she loved him. It was just moments like these she could send a good hex in his direction. It made Hermione not want to be here anymore and instead get back to work on her notes and trying to figure out more about Draco's condition. It would be rude to leave, though, so Hermione focused instead on discussing more about dragons and other news with Charlie and Molly while they waited on Arthur to get home while Ron and Ginny glared at each other and muttered to each other now and then until Molly glared at them to be quiet.

****

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A/N: More about Draco's issues in the next chapter! Please review! 


	7. Chapter 7

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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**CHAPTER SIX**

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At eight o'clock Sunday morning, Hermione and Draco met Severus in his office. Draco sat uncertainly at the chair in front of Severus's desk while Hermione dug around in her bag and produced a book that she placed in front of Severus. She explained that it was all of her notes and everything all organized, as requested. There was everything she had written about Harry plus his pictures included at the end of that, then her latest notes on Draco and a few pictures she had taken of him at his worst and even newer notes comparing the two cases.

"Very good," Severus said, flipping through the pages. "I've been researching since I first saw Draco, but you're right…There's nothing in any medical books that comes close to this."

"I came to you for a reason, you know," Draco scoffed. He wouldn't have bothered if he didn't know for a fact that something was seriously wrong.

Severus paid him no mind and went on reading. After a few minutes he looked up at Hermione, eyebrow raised. Draco looked to Hermione in confusion. She didn't seem to know, either, until Severus pointed at something and she blushed and her eyes got big. Draco was curious but before he could ask or lean over to look they decided to get started.

"I suppose we can see what's new then," Severus said, looking to Draco expectantly. "Well?"

"Nothing new," Draco replied. "Symptoms are the same as they've always been, only yesterday it cleared up some and it looks much better today. I only have one…spot…on my shoulder, that I could see, and my eyes are still sort of strange, though they don't look so bad." It was true, only the pupil and iris of his eyes were faded slightly, but not enough to be very noticeable unless you were looking for it. "It's happened before, though…I'm not dumb enough to assume it's gone for good."

Severus nodded and smirked and turned to Hermione who quickly shook her head. "Very well, then. Draco, have you been faithful to your wife?"

"Pardon me?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow and shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"You heard me. Don't play dumb; you're not a Gryffindor," Severus said. Hermione glared at him but he didn't pay her any attention.

"Erm…Not exactly," Draco replied, shrugging, though he felt uneasy and his cheeks were a bit pink.

"Have you ever had intercourse with another man?" Severus inquired.

Draco's eyes grew wide. "N-no!" he sputtered, face heating up more.

Severus looked amused. "Are you sure?"

Draco looked down at the floor and fidgeted a bit. He did his best to sit up and look dignified, but it was hard. He looked around, making sure they were alone and the door was closed before leaning in and whispering. "Once, okay? And I was drunk." As if being drunk made it better. To Draco it did comfort him some.

"Did you top or bottom?" Severus asked.

"Top! Of course!" Draco scoffed. "I'm a Malfoy."

"Right," Severus said, picking up his quill and adding something to Hermione's notes.

"Why?" Draco asked curiously.

"Mrs. Granger considered the possibility of pregnancy being the cause," Severus said.

Draco barked out a laugh, making Hermione blush and glare at him. "I would need a potion for that and I wouldn't even…Ha…Nice one."

"Well, Harry didn't exactly take the potion intentionally, did he?" Hermione snapped. "Someone could have slipped it to you or you could have taken it thinking it was something else!"

"You said you were drunk?" Severus asked.

"Yes."

Severus nodded. "We can still check for pregnancy, just in case, but I'm not sure about that theory. Perhaps it could be a sexually transmitted disease of some kind."

Hermione nodded and Draco's eyed widened in alarm. "What?"

"Wizards don't worry about STDs as much as Muggles, but we still have them," Severus muttered quietly. "It's a possibility. Have you had many sexual partners?"

"Err…I guess," Draco said. "That one bloke and…fifteen women."

Hermione looked stunned and Draco just smirked at her and Severus looked equally amused. "We'll need to take a blood sample," Severus said, opening the top drawer of his desk. He pulled out an empty phial and a knife and slid them over to Draco. Draco slit his finger and let the blood drip into the phial. Severus cleaned off the knife and put it away and turned back to the notes on his desk.

"And you've been having these symptoms for a month?" Severus asked checking the notes. Draco nodded. "And Harry?" he asked, looking somewhat disturbed as he said the name.

"Shortly before he found out he was pregnant," Hermione explained.

"And how long did it take him to get to Draco's level of things?" Severus asked.

"Err…A month and a half to two months, I think," Hermione said.

Draco's eyes were wide in shock and horror. He was progressing faster than Harry? Shite that wasn't good.

"And these pictures…They were Harry at his worst?" Severus asked.

"Basically," Hermione said. "I think the black might have spread a few more inches, but that's it, really."

"And how long did it take him to get to that point?" Severus asked, jotting down the notes.

"Hmm…I took these about a month before the final battle…I think it spread more about a week before he defeated Voldemort," Hermione said.

Severus wrote this down, too. "And there was nothing of him left behind? Nothing that could be a clue or something we might check?"

"Hmm…No…No, I don't think so," Hermione said quietly with a frown.

Severus nodded and set the quill down and reached out to take the phial from Draco. "Draco, undress…Mrs. Granger, I want you to check him for anything new…See if anything appeared since he last checked or if there's something he might have missed."

Draco stood up and began undressing nervously while Severus took his blood and took out a few more phials that were half filled with potions…One was clear, one a translucent yellow, a translucent orange, and a murky brown one. He began dripping the blood into each one and began shaking them up. Draco folded his clothes neatly in his chair, deciding to keep his underwear on. It was bad enough having to get undressed in front of them without being completely starkers.

Hermione came up to him and started looking along his front. She touched the spot on his shoulder and leaned in closely to look at it and then stepped back and walked around him. Almost immediately she gasped sharply and Draco tensed up and Severus looked up.

"D…Draco, did something happen?" Hermione asked weakly. Severus quickly stood and walked behind him, too.

"N-no…Like what? Why?" he demanded anxiously.

Hermione trailed her finger down his back. On either side there were two long lines, bumps, that looked like scar tissue. It looked like someone had carved two very deep lines into his back and they had just healed over. They were a tender pink color and all around them was that same pale, pale blue that surrounded his spots. This time, though, the blue didn't just surround that area. At the top of both lines, the blue stretched up to meet in the middle of the back of his neck. Hermione trailed her finger along the blue up to the back of his neck and moved his hair with her finger.

"Well. What is it?" Draco demanded in a panic.

"A new development," Severus replied while Hermione dug a camera out of her bag and snapped a picture of his bag.

"Harry never displayed anything like this?" Severus asked.

"N…No…I don't think so," Hermione said.

While Severus and Hermione worked with Draco, Charlie Weasley was heading into the forest around Godric's Hollow. He had with him one of his co-workers, Reba Massey, and five recruits: magizooligists Luna Lovegood and boyfriend Rolf Scamander, Hogwarts Care of Magical Creatures teacher Hagrid, a Ministry official from the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures Cho Chang, and her reluctant boyfriend from Magical Law Enforcement, Blaise Zabini. The first three would hopefully prove helpful in trying to deal with Petra and the Hebridean Black while Cho and Blaise had been sent by the Ministry. Cho was to deserve and offer her opinion to her supervisor about what to do about he dragons while Blaise came to deal with more legal issues, including a search warrant for the cabin they had crossed. Not that they hadn't taken a peak in without permission, but this would help them be able to look around more and without worry about anything.

"Cho, Blaise, make sure you stick with one of us when you're walking around…Petra can be a bit testy with strangers," Charlie warned them. He trusted the others to be knowledgeable enough about dragons to be fine on their own. They worked through the trees a few more minutes before finding the group of dragon tamers standing around the cabin. Some were in deep conversation while others were staring towards the sky. Charlie looked up when he drew closer, seeing the Hebridean Black flying around in circles.

"Oi, does no one have a broom?" Reba called out.

"None that survived!" Brock Stevens called back, pointing to a pile of broken and charred brooms.

"Sheesh…You'd think they'd know how to fly around dragons by now," Charlie muttered, shaking his head. "Where's Petra?"

"I dunno," Brock said, jogging over to them. "Carter and Duncan followed her on our remaining brooms…But the Black flies off now and then and comes back with her…She never seems to go far."

"Huh," said Charlie, eying the Black. "Seen anything?" he asked, nodding to the cabin.

"Yeah, some bloke walked out when we arrived, but he Disapparated. We couldn't get a good look at him, he had a hood pulled over his head," Brock said.

"Well, I'm going to go look around," Blaise said, eying everyone distastefully before moving forward to the cabin. Charlie hesitated, then followed him. Even if he was in the cabin, Charlie still didn't feel right about Blaise walking around alone. Luna, Rolf, and Hagrid all began walking around, talking animatedly about dragons while Cho went forward to talk to the other tamers.

"This is Ministry business, Weasley," Blaise said as he walked around the small living room. There was a large open area that included the living area and a kitchen and there only seemed to be a bedroom and a bathroom besides that.

"I'm just here for your protection," Charlie muttered.

"Hmm," Blaise hummed and went to ignoring him.

Charlie closed the door and leaned back against it. He didn't dare do more with a Ministry official around. Blaise muttered under his breath about being sent for such a job and how he was never pissing off his boss again. Charlie looked around from his place, hoping to see if he could find anything from where he was. After a few minutes he heard a loud roar and a shriek and he quickly moved to the window to look out at the group. Cho Chang was on the ground, arms thrown over her head while Brock and Reba ran after a black tail of the Hebridean Black. Everyone seemed fine and once he was sure of it he relaxed and turned back around. Blaise had since found a cardboard box and had opened it on the couch. He began taking out a few of the items and set them down on the cushion beside him.

There was a knock on the window and Charlie looked to the side to see Luna standing there smiling. She pointed to Blaise and Charlie furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Luna walked around and walked into the cabin. Blaise glared up at her before continuing his search.

"I thought I recognized that cloak," Luna said with a serene smile.

"You recognize it?" Charlie asked.

"Of course," Luna said. "That's Harry's cloak. The Invisibility Cloak."

There was silence for a moment. "Harry's? Are you sure?"

"I think so," Luna said. "And that looks like Harry's broken wand."

Charlie looked to the severed wand on the couch beside Blaise.

"Is he living here now?" Luna asked, looking from Charlie to Blaise, unbothered by anything.

"I…no…What?" Charlie asked. "Harry Potter?"

"Yes," Luna said.

"I think she might be right," Blaise said, eyes wide as he held up a piece of parchment. He stared up at Charlie and Luna who walked over behind him to look at the parchment. Charlie gaped at it as he read it and Luna just smiled at the birth certificate.

"Adele Regina Snape is such a pretty name," she commented.

****

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A/N: Please review! 


	8. Chapter 8

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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**CHAPTER SEVEN**

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It had been a long day so far for Draco Malfoy. He was bored out of his mind while Severus and Hermione worked. They were always looking at their notes and looking at books and conversing now and then about things. Sometimes Draco got to stand while they studied him some more or they asked him more questions, but mostly he was laying around just waiting for answers. It was horrible because he was scared and he wanted to know what was happening to him. Was he dying? Was this curable? Treatable? Something? Anything. At noon he went with Hermione to get some lunch and was nice enough to pay for it since she had helped him so much. Severus stayed behind because he wasn't very socially inclined and had snapped at them when they offered for him to join. Draco hoped it was dinnertime soon and they could leave. As much as he wanted to get this figured out, he doubt it would be anytime soon and he was bored.

It was almost sunset when there was a loud knock on the door. Hermione didn't even seem to hear it and she just kept reading, though it had shocked Draco as he had been dozing off. He jerked awake and looked around. Severus calmly looked up to glare at the door and raised an eyebrow. "Who is it?"

"Charlie Weasley. Ron said Hermione was here!" called back a male voice from the other side of the door.

"Charlie?" Hermione asked, blinking as she looked up from her book. She then looked panicked and jumped up. "Is something wrong? Did something happen?" she asked and before anyone could say anything else she ran across the room and flung open the door.

"Calm down, no one's hurt," Charlie assured her. "Just…We think we know where Harry is."

There was a long pause. Draco blinked in surprise and looked from Charlie's dazed expression to Hermione's shocked expression to the many emotions racing through Severus's black eyes as he held a now broken quill. They had found Harry Potter…Or they thought they did, anyway.

"But…How? What?" Hermione finally said.

"That dragon I told you about? And how there was a cabin in the woods and we thought someone was keeping the dragon? We think it's Harry…We never saw him, but his things are in the cabin. His cloak and his wand and…and Adele's birth certificate," Charlie explained. "Some of the others said they saw a hooded figure leave the place, but they couldn't see who it was. Said it was a bloke, though. A lot of the others are staying at an inn in Godric's Hollow, so I can take you back to the cabin whenever you're done…Wait and see if it is him or not. I'd feel better if you let me stay with you, though, since there are two wild dragons flying around the area."

"Oh…Yes…Yes! Let's go," Hermione said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She dashed across the room to grab her coat and things. "You've told Ron?"

"Yeah, he's waiting down the hall," Charlie said. "Erm…You two are more than welcome to come, if you need to." Draco noticed the red head's eyes flicker to Severus. His name had been on the birth certificate and Draco figured all of the Weasleys must know the truth anyway. Draco figured he'd leave, as he didn't have much to do with Harry Potter, but his godfather seemed sort of stunned and out of it, so Draco figured he might go to keep the man company, even if he didn't want it.

"C'mon, I'll stick with you, Severus," Draco said, standing up. "Can't leave a fellow Slytherin alone with Gryffindors."

"Kind of you," Severus muttered, rolling his eyes, but he didn't object as he stood up and put on his own coat.

Draco reached down to grab his own shirt and things and almost forgot about his issues with his body until Charlie said something. "Oh wow, Malfoy. Are you okay?"

"What? Oh," Draco said, panicking as he looked down at the spot on his shoulder. "Just an accident," he replied hastily, pulling on his shirt and his coat. "Let's go find Potter then."

Charlie nodded and motioned for the group to follow him. Draco still felt sort of weird, but Severus was his godfather and even if the man was changed for the worse these days, Draco did care about him in his own way…besides, he could admit to a morbid curiosity about Harry Potter. The hero who destroyed Voldemort and disappeared shortly after and had been gone for five years. To think…the hero of the Wizarding world hiding out in the woods with only a dragon for company! Thinking of it this way made him feel better and he felt a bit more upbeat as they met Ron near the Floo.

"Oi, what are they doing here?" Ron demanded.

"Shut up, Ron," Charlie said, slapping him on the side of the head.

"Ronald," Hermione hissed warningly.

"Alright, alright, calm down," Ron muttered.

"We can just Floo to the Burrow and Apparate from there," Charlie suggested. "Mum and Dad are visiting Bill and Fleur so I don't think we'll get held up."

One by one they stepped into the fireplace and Flooed to the Burrow. Once they were all in the living room they walked together outside. They did face the problem of figuring out where exactly to Apparate, since it was too big of a group to Apparate together that way.

"Let's just meet at Gollitt's Pub," Charlie finally said and they all agreed and knew where it was. They all met outside the pub, though Ron had the brilliant idea of Apparating into the pub, scaring a group of young women who chased him out, hitting him with their purses. Ron ran into the middle of the group for cover and the girls all glared at him before walking back into the pub and his wife glared at him and muttered under her breath. Charlie just shook his head at his brother. "Alright, come on."

It was a five minute walk to the forest and another ten minutes or so to get to the cabin. Draco was exhausted and could not understand the pleasure anyone took in nature as he struggled to avoid branches and tripped too many times to count. He caught himself on tree trunks and a disgruntled Severus once. He nearly tripped and landed face first into mud, only saved by Charlie Weasley's strong arms grabbing him and pulling him straight and holding him steady. Draco jerked around a bit, not very comfortable with some guy who was practically a stranger touching him. Charlie chuckled and let him go. Draco straightened up and did his best to look dignified.

"Well, that's it," Charlie said looking at the cabin. Hermione ran up and let herself in, her husband right on her tail. The others lagged behind but eventually caught up. They both sat on the floor with the box Blaise had been looking through earlier. Hermione had tears in her eyes as she clutched Harry's cloak to her body while Ron held open the Marauder's Map with the broken wand and a book in his lap.

"It's the Stone…and the…the Elder wand," Hermione said, pulling the whole wand into her lap as well as a small stone. She then let a few tears fall as she grasped the broken wand. Draco felt like he was intruding on something very private and stayed by the door. Charlie looked equally uncomfortable and stood beside him. Severus slowly moved forward and plucked the birth certificate from the arm of the couch and just stared at it for a moment. Hermione then looked up at him and nudged Ron making the red haired boy scoot over and Hermione followed suit and Draco figured they were making room for Severus. Severus just glared at them for a moment before reluctantly walking over and sitting on the couch behind them instead, placing the birth certificate down beside him and reaching into the box, pulling out a dark green sweater that looked way too big for Harry. Severus grasped it tightly in his hands, black eyes glistening with tears to Draco's horror. Hermione smiled sadly at him and patted his knee and Severus looked too consumed by the shirt to bite her head off for it. "He wore it to sleep every night…He might have worn it all the time if he could have," Hermione told him. It must have been Severus's shirt and a sentimental move on Harry's part to wear it so often, probably missing his lover. Draco might have commented on it if it didn't look like Severus was so…emotional about it.

While they looked through Harry's things and made comments about them, Draco and Charlie stood silently side by side. Draco felt awkward…Just standing there and doing nothing. He wanted to go but he'd feel bad just leaving right now in the middle of this. He especially had no idea what to say to the red head beside him and noticed after a few minutes how close they were and how uncomfortable it made him, but he was too proud to move away and honestly he was a bit too scared to move or say anything at all the way things were right now, like he'd be interrupting something very important.

After what felt like forever but was probably only ten minutes or so, Draco let out a quiet sigh and turned to the window beside him to look out of it. "Wow, Draco, what happened?" Charlie whispered, reaching out to touch the back of his neck. Draco jumped at the touch and jerked around. "What?"

"It…What did you do?" Charlie demanded.

Hermione and Severus's heads snapped up and Hermione looked at Draco in a panic. "Are they…? Merlin's beard," Charlie muttered. "You have scales!"

"I have what?" Draco demanded in a panic. Seveurs and Hermione jumped to their feet and ran over. Severus shoved Charlie away and held Draco's head still. Severus trailed his finger over the back of Draco's neck. His skin was that same pale blue color, just as rough, but there were a few inches that were pearly white scales.

"Bloody hell," Hermione muttered. "What does this mean?"

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Charlie demanded.

"Malfoy has scales?" Ron asked, standing up and walking over to look eagerly. "Is this your project, Hermione?"

"Shut up, Ronald!" Hermione snapped.

"Did you do something to him?" Charlie asked, frowning deeply.

"No!" Hermione snapped defensively. Severus, who had brought his bag with him as he intended to go home after this, sat at the couch and pulled out their book of notes and opened it up and wrote down the new symptom.

"Then why does he have scales?" Ron asked.

"Draco?" Hermione asked pleadingly.

"If they tell anybody I will curse the lot of you stupid weasels," Draco muttered. He felt panicky, but they had already seen and Draco doubted anything would get better until they stopped freaking out. He still turned his head away in embarrassment, heart thudding in his chest. If they made fun of him he was whipping out his wand. If they told anyone he'd be in Azkaban because he'd kill them.

"Draco has some mysterious illness or something…It's creating all sorts of strange symptoms…Ron…Ron it was a lot like what was happening to Harry the last year of the war," Hermione explained.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed. "Really? I don't remember Harry having scales."

"What did the healers say?" Charlie asked.

"Draco, take off your shirt," Severus instructed.

Too worried to bother questioning him, Draco hastily shrugged out of his coat and pulled off his shirt.

"No healer," Hermione said, worrying her lower lip. "Draco was worried about this being leaked to the Prophet. He wanted Severus and me to look into it. Severus and I searched every medical book we could, though, and there's nothing like this."

"Wicked," Ron muttered, looking at Draco's shoulder. Severus pushed him away so that he could look. The spot on Draco's shoulder had grown a few inches and the rough blue area was bigger and now there was a few inches of white scales right above it, leading up to his neck.

"Shite," Draco muttered, eyes growing large as he caught sight of it.

"Weasley, do they look familiar to you?" Severus asked.

"Course not! Just said Harry never had any scales," Ron said.

"Not you," Severus snapped.

"Me?" Charlie asked. "Why? Uhh…Well…Actually," Charlie said, leaning in to examine the scales again. "They do sort of look like the scales of the Opaleye."

"The what?" Ron asked.

"The Antipodean Opaleye," Hermione said, peering at Draco's face.

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"A dragon, you dolt," Charlie said.

"Yes…I…I think so, too," Hermione said. "Look at his eyes."

Three hands shot out to turn Draco to face them. He felt more and more scared as they stared in complete shock at him. The pupil and iris of his eyes were both extremely pale and the whites of his eyes had flecks of shiny pinks and yellows and greens and blues. Draco wish he could see what they were looking at, wish he knew what they were seeing…He also wish he had learned more about dragons and knew what the Antipodean Opaleye was supposed to look like. Was he turning into a dragon? How the bloody hell did that happen?

"Have you ever produced a Patronus, Draco?" Hermione asked quietly.

"No," Draco said.

"Have you ever attempted to become an Animagus?" Severus asked.

"No."

"Has anyone tried using any form of Transfiguration on you?" Hermione asked.

"Not that I'm aware of," Draco replied.

"If this was Transfiguration gone wrong, I would think his appearance would always be this way, not coming and going," Severus pointed out.

"Right," Hermione agreed, nodding. "Do you feel any different Draco?"

"Uh…No, not really," Draco said. He wanted to say he was terrified and feeling awkward with everyone gathered around him and knowing something very strange was happening, but he kept that to himself.

"If he does turn into a dragon, at least we have Charlie with us," Ron said.

"Don't say that Ron! Draco is not turning into a dragon!" Hermione snapped as she turned and followed Severus as he walked back to the couch and grabbed their book of notes.

"C'mon, it's in his name! Draco the dragon. Get it?" Ron said.

"Yes, we get it, but he's not!" Hermione snapped. She said it a bit too quickly and a bit too firmly for Draco's liking. Ron walked over to his wife, demanding to know what he had done while Hermione and Severus ignored him and began muttering about Draco. Meanwhile, Draco began touching his shoulder and neck where the scales were, shivering as he felt them. This was not right. He immediately turned to the window to see if he could get a catch of his reflection. He had to lean in close to get a glimpse, but he managed to see the strange color his eyes had taken and momentarily considered removing his pants to see if it had spread anywhere else.

"Look…Draco…I'm sure…I'm sure we'll find out what's wrong and…I'm sure you'll be alright," Charlie said, resting a comforting hand on Draco's arm. Draco immediately shrugged out of the touch.

"Don't touch me," Draco hissed and immediately stormed off and walked right out of the cabin just as the Hebridean Black dragon landed.

"Shite, what are they doing here? Someone's not going to be happy," said a strange male voice. Draco froze and looked over his shoulder then turned back to the dragon.

"You can talk?" Draco asked hesitantly, feeling a bit dumb for talking to a dragon.

"You can understand me?" asked the stunned dragon.

"Err…Draco?" called Charlie's voice from the doorway.

"Of course I can," Draco huffed.

"Dear Merlin," Charlie muttered. "Hermione, I think we have a new…symptom?"

Draco's eyes grew wide as he looked back at the red head to see that he was joined now by Ron and Hermione. "Shite. You have got to be kidding me."

The dragon tilted its head to the side and Draco turned back to it. "No one else understands you?"

"No," the dragon replied. "I don't speak…human. And you're not speaking human either. Not right now."

"Merlin…" Draco swore, feeling a bit dizzy now. This was way too much for one day. He was talking to dragons! Yes, he was definitely turning into one of them. He stumbled back a bit and sat on the ground, reaching up to feel his head for horns and feeling his bare chest and arms for anything else out of the ordinary.

"S-Severus," Hermione said, walking back into the cabin to inform him of the latest development. Ron stayed in the doorway and watched as Charlie crept forward, keeping his eyes trained on the dragon. The dragon never moved, though, and only seemed to have eyes for Draco. Charlie knelt down beside the younger wizard.

"This could be a gift," Charlie said. "You know? You can talk to dragons…That's pretty neat, right? You could just be-"

"There is nothing good about talking to dragons," Draco growled through gritted teeth.

"You shouldn't be here," the dragon said, stepping a bit to the side.

"I'm a freak!" Draco muttered, then glanced up at the dragon. "Who are you?"

Charlie looked like he might disagree with the freak comment, but kept quiet in favor of watching the interaction between Draco and the dragon.

"My name is Darren," the dragon replied.

"Darren? Darren the dragon?" Draco demanded, unable to stop from laughing. "Who names a dragon Darren?"

The dragon huffed, but didn't say anything in response.

"Ask it about Harry," suggested Ron from the doorway.

Oh yeah. "Darren…Where is Harry Potter?"

The dragon turned to look at him and stared at him for a long moment. "You need to leave."

"He just says we need to leave," Draco said, turning to Ron.

"Well tell him we need to know about Harry!" Ron argued.

Draco sighed but turned back to Darren. "We really need to know where Harry Potter is."

"He doesn't want to be found," Darren said. "He hides here for a reason. You would do well to leave. Now."

"Well he's a bloody coward," Draco grumbled. "Is it because he's like me? Does it get worse, my condition?"

Darren hesitated and kneeled down the best he could so that he was eye level with Draco. Draco shrunk back only to find himself pressed against Charlie Weasley. Charlie stroked his arm comfortingly. Ron's eyes were big. "If it eats him…" Ron began.

"Shut up, Ron!" Charlie hissed.

Darren looked from Draco to Charlie and finally up to Ron. "It'll get steadily worse, yes," DArren said. "But you really must go…He'll be back soon, but he won't stay if he sees you here."

****

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A/N: I'd be so happy if people reviewed! I'd really like to know if people are reading and liking it or not. 


	9. Chapter 8

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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**CHAPTER EIGHT**

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Darren could only tell him that they needed to leave soon and took to circling the house as Draco walked inside to fill them all in. Charlie and Hermione frowned when Draco related about how Harry wouldn't stay if he showed up and saw them there. Ron muttered under his breath looking annoyed and Severus scowled angrily at the wall.

"Well then we shall wait for Mr. Potter to arrive and we'll see how far he gets," Severus grunted.

"What's he so worried about? It can't be that bad," Ron said. "I mean…Even if it is bad, we'd still be his friends."

"He knows we'd try to help him," Hermione said sadly.

"Let's try to hold off judgments until we actually see him," suggested Charlie. "This is pretty scary and depending on how bad it is…Well you just don't know what it must be like."

"Yeah, but nothing…no matter how bad…should keep Harry away from the people he cares about. For Merlin's sake, he has a daughter!" Hermione said in exasperation.

"Apparently we don't know him as well as we thought we did," Severus spat bitterly.

Draco just nodded and looked around the room, jumping in surprise when he saw Darren's head pressed against the window. Charlie noticed and looked over and smiled when he saw. The red head walked over to the window and opened it, hesitantly reaching out to stroke his hand over the dragon's face. The dragon's eyes fluttered shut and he relaxed under the touch.

"Harry must be pretty good," Charlie muttered. "He domesticated a dragon without any help…out here in the forest. It hasn't harmed anyone or been seen until Petra and Eugen came around. He's one of the tamest dragons I've seen, and I work with dragons for a living."

"Maybe it has something to do with his condition," Hermione suggested. "I'm sure he's progressed farther than Draco…So he must have developed some of the scales and the ability to speak with them. Being able to communicate with them and sharing some of their physical attributes must be helpful."

"That's a good point," Charlie said quietly. He seemed very pleased being so close to a dragon, so at home. While Ron and Hermione carried on a whispered conversation about Harry and Severus glared at the wall and resumed reading his notes, Draco watched Charlie Weasley. He was just barely taller than Draco and very muscular and tan with a bright white smile and friendly blue eyes. Draco wasn't much of a fan of the Weasleys, but there was something interesting about this one. Without over thinking things, he might have even noticed some attraction to the older wizard…But much as always happened when Draco thought of how attractive a bloke was, he shook the thoughts away and tried to focus instead on thoughts of his beautiful wife with the strawberry blond hair and hazel eyes. Astoria was one of the most beautiful witches Draco had laid eyes on and he was lucky.

For some reason, Draco stood up and found himself walking over to stand on the other side of the window in front of Charlie before he could stop himself. Darren's eyes flickered over to him and somehow Draco knew without Darren even having to say it. He reached out and touched the dragon, too. Feeling the rough scales beneath his hands wasn't exactly pleasant, but he liked it somehow. It felt natural. Great I really am turning into a dragon, aren't I?

"You really should go," Darren said after a few minutes.

"I don't think I could make them if I tried," Draco confessed.

Darren snorted, but didn't put up too much of a fight.

They waited for over an hour. Severus was adamant about staying. He seemed to want to pick a fight with Harry. Hermione and Ron continued going through Harry's things and keeping up their discussions. Draco and Charlie sat on the floor by the window, petting Darren and conversing with him…at least Draco was and sometimes acting as a translator for Charlie and Darren. Charlie was fascinated to be able to communicate with a dragon in such a way and asked him all sorts of questions about Petra and other dragons and things he enjoyed doing. Every time they mentioned Harry, though, Darren would close up and take a short fly around the cabin. He was a very loyal dragon apparently and was unwilling to give much information on his master.

Finally someone Apparated into the cabin. Darren stiffened and opened his mouth to shout "Run!" at the figure, but it was too late. Severus stood up and immediately shouted "STUPEFY!" and the figure fell to the ground. Darren growled and pulled his head out of the window and flew off. Hermione shrieked and everyone was on their feet and gathered around the hooded character. There were Harry's shoes and Harry's jeans, but as they pulled the hood back on the figure, it wasn't Harry they saw.

The figure dressed in Harry's clothing was a woman. It was hard to recognize the person…They hardly seemed all that human. The mouth and the nose area was dark and seemed to be frozen in the middle of morphing together into a beak. The whole face was twisted and narrowed as though stuck. The hair was long, curly, and tangled, a beautiful caramel color with streaks of gold and scarlet. Severus reached out to touch one of the strange looking red strands and muttered "Feathers." They pulled the cloak the rest of the way off and pushed up the sleeves of the shirt to find that the skin was mostly pink and shiny. Severus muttered a quick spell to bind the woman with ropes before casting "Rennervate" to wake her up.

"Who are you?" Severus demanded.

"Hmm?" asked the woman. "What are you doing here?"

Severus pointed his wand at her. "Who are you?"

"Oh my God," the woman whimpered, twisting around in the ropes and finally landing on her stomach. "Don't look at me! Please don't look at me!"

"What happened to you?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Where's Harry?" Ron demanded.

"I dunno. Outside, probably," the woman muttered.

"Outside?" Charlie repeated, turning to look out of the window.

"Do you live here with him?" Severus demanded.

"Of course," the woman replied.

Draco stared out of the window as Darren flew past. His eyes grew wide. "Wait…You don't think that Darren might be Harry, do you?" he asked the group.

"Who's Darren?" the woman asked.

"The dragon," Draco said.

"What dragon? There's another dragon?" she demanded in exasperation.

"Err…Harry wouldn't happen to be a dragon, would he?" Draco asked.

"Well, y-…wait…Damn it," the woman hissed. "Get out of here! You shouldn't be here! Go! Now! Accio wand! Merlin…Let me go!"

"He is, isn't he?" Draco said.

"Wicked!" Ron exclaimed.

"Then why did he say his name was Darren?" Hermione asked, confused.

"I dunno," Draco said, walking towards the cabin door. He was well aware of the others on his tail. "Potter!" Draco shouted.

The dragon ignored him.

"I know you're a dragon, Harry Potter!" Draco called out.

"I told you to leave!" Harry spat.

"Why did you lie to me?" Draco demanded.

"What do I owe you, Malfoy?" Harry snapped.

"Well this wasn't just about me! Your friends are here worried about you, you know!" Draco yelled.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? I'm a dragon! It's not like knowing the truth was going to make anything better," Harry said miserably.

"Potter," Severus's voice said coldly.

Harry's purple dragon eyes looked up sadly at his lover. Severus's sharp glare softened a bit at the sight of it. "Oh Severus," Harry sighed, landing on the ground and watching him longingly.

"So Malfoy is going to turn into a dragon, then," said Ron amused.

"Not the time, Ron," Charlie hissed.

"Tell him I love him and I miss him and I'm sorry?" Harry asked.

Draco huffed. "Severus, your dragon over here is sending sentimental thoughts your way."

Severus scoffed and looked away, though he didn't seem nearly as stern and angry as he usually did. "Always the Gryffindor."

"Harry…Oh Harry…What happened? Can he change back?"

Before Draco could translate, Harry answered. "I can understand them. They just can't understand me. It might be better if you get Daphne to tell them the story."

"Daphne?" Draco asked then his eyes widened and he looked towards the cabin. "That's Daphne Greengrass."

"Mhm," Harry replied. "She can probably explain it a lot better than I can and you won't have to sit here and translate for me."

"Daphne Greengrass? What happened to her?" Hermione asked, looking back to the cabin guiltily.

"We'll have to go find out," Draco said. "Potter says she'll tell us everything."

"He better not go anywhere," Severus said, scowling at Harry.

"I won't," Harry said softly.

"He says he won't," Draco said.

Severus glared at Harry hard before spinning around and marching back into the cabin. Harry sighed and resumed his position by the window as the others went back into the house. They untied Daphne who quickly wrapped herself back into her cloak. She looked ready to leave again, but Harry was giving her a pleading look and Daphne reluctantly sighed and sat down.

"Oh, Daphne, what happened? To you and to Harry?" Hermione asked.

Daphne turned and stared at Harry for a minute. Draco wondered if they could communicate telepathically because neither said anything. They just gave each other looks that seemed to say everything. Finally Daphne turned to the others who had congregated around the couch. Draco looked to the window to see Harry staring at Severus while Severus was pointedly ignoring him.

"I met Harry three months after the war ended," Daphne began. "I was running away from a date I had because I looked like this…My skin had been weird for weeks, but when I started sprouting feathers…well…I ran. I ran into this forest. Then I saw Harry as a dragon and was scared and ran into this cabin when I found it, found all of Harry's things here. The next morning I woke up and Harry was laying outside naked. I helped him in thinking I was protecting him from the dragon, but he told me he was the dragon.

"He said that right before the final battle he attempted to become an Animagus, just in case it would be useful. He did it on his own because Granger didn't approve. It didn't work anyway, only he thought it didn't. Just a few hours after You-Know-Who died, Harry became a dragon. It scared him because he couldn't change back. He became human again a few days later, but he started becoming a dragon without trying and with more and more frequency. He showed me how his body was acting like mine, only he had scales and purple eyes and I was acting like some sort of bird.

"Sometimes he looked completely normal, but I've always looked like this…My skin, at least, always looks pink and gross. I never wanted to leave again so Harry let me stay here with him. He kept saying he wanted to go home…That he had a daughter and a lover that he missed very much, but he was scared of hurting him. His transformations were so sporadic and wild and he was scared he might hurt them, especially Addie since she was just a baby. He tried writing them letters, but he was scared of sending them just in case things never got better. When I told him everyone thought he was dead he figured it was for the best. He became a dragon more often and changed back into a human less and less. The changes stopped altogether after a year and he's been stuck as a dragon for four years.

"I take care of him and I stay here. I go to town only when I need to but I've been trying hard to do research on our conditions. I found out that I'm kind of a phoenix, I guess. I ended up going to Hogwarts and into the Forbidden Forest about two years ago to talk to the centaurs…I figure if anyone might know they would. I was failing everywhere else. I found Firenze and he told me legends of wizards from a long time ago, before Hogwarts was even founded. He said how the wizard population had been dying out and they thought that mating with Muggles would make it worse, so in desperation some of them began mating with magical creatures in hopes of keeping the magical population alive. Sometimes it was as humans, which is how we got more obvious hybrids like centaurs and mere people, but some mated with magical animals by becoming them. A few were Animagi who took the form of magical creatures and got pregnant that way then transformed back into humans and they thought they were successful because they had normal human looking babies that were magical.

"He said that sometimes in history, though…down in the line…wizards or witches would start showing signs of becoming those creatures when their magic reached maturity. He had a theory that Salazar Slytherin could speak to snakes because he was a descendent of a basilisk or something. Anyway, he's the one who said I was probably from a phoenix and that Harry must be a dragon descendent and that once he reached magical maturity and began showing signs of the dragon that becoming an Animagus…I dunno, something about how that's why he's stuck as a dragon, that the combination of the transfiguration and his magic's inclination towards dragons make him stuck that way. He told me I should embrace my phoenix the same way Harry embraced his dragon, but I'm really not too sure about that and I told him so. He said I would never find peace until I did…But I'm kind of happier being an ugly human than turning into a phoenix…The thought kind of scares me, actually. But yeah…That's what happened and this is where we've been ever since."

The room was silent for several long minutes after Daphne's story and she fidgeted uncomfortably on her chair. Harry let out a few nervous noises over by the window. Hermione and Severus looked to be deep in thought while Ron looked stunned and awed. Charlie was watching Harry.

"People had sex with dragons?" Ron finally said.

Harry let out a noise that sounded like a laugh. Severus glared at him and Harry glared back.

"Were you paying attention? She said some of them did it in their Animagus form. I'm sure anyone who tried to have intercourse with a dragon became one themselves. It's the only way they could survive long enough to even carry a baby to term," Hermione explained. "Still, it is a bit strange…But I guess if women can give birth to centaurs then they can give birth to other hybrids…Still, it's so strange that it would skip so many generations. I've never even heard of this."

"I wouldn't blame anyone for not coming out about it," Daphne said, sounding miserable.

"I second that notion," Draco muttered.

"Oh, you two are so vain!" Hermione snapped. "Surely not everyone was so shallow…That if this did happen before that someone would have come forward to try to learn more about it! This is something very important that a lot of people could-"

"Until you start sprouting scales or feathers, shut your mouth, Granger," Draco spat.

"Malfoy! Don't talk to her like that," Harry snapped.

"Malfoy, talk to my wife like that again and I'll hex your bollocks off!" Ron threatened.

"It hardly makes a difference what people should or shouldn't have done in the past," Severus remarked.

"The only thing that should matter is learning what we can and try to help Harry change back into a human and try to help Daphne and Draco deal with their conditions," Charlie said calmly.

"Did I even give you permission to use my name, Weasley?" Draco asked, realizing that Charlie was using his first name.

Charlie ignored him.

"I don't think it's of any use," Daphne sighed.

"Have you tried talking to anyone else about this? Other than Firenze?" Hermione asked kindly.

"One person," Daphne said, sounding embarrassed. "Remember I told you I was on a date when I ran off and met Harry?"

"Yeah," Hermione said.

"Well, I found her again a year ago. She's kind of like us," Daphne said. "She…became a mermaid. Only…It wasn't an Animagus thing, like Harry. But I think because mermaids are already so close to being human that it wasn't so hard for her to do. But I learned Mermish when I was younger so I talked to her about what happened to her."

"Who was it?" Hermione asked.

"Ahh…Lavender Brown," Daphne admitted quietly.

"Poor you," Ron snorted. Hermione slapped his arm.

"She's a very lovely person," Daphne defended.

"She's not a person, she's a merperson," Ron muttered. Hermione glared at him, fuming. "What?" he demanded quickly. "Well…besides, mermaids can't be lovely anyway. You've seen them, haven't you?"

"Ron, either shut up or leave," Charlie warned.

"What?" Ron demanded, clueless.

"You're offending people!" Charlie snapped.

"So Lavender Brown's a merperson," Hermione said. "Harry's a dragon…Draco's taking on dragon-like qualities and you've been taking on phoenix-like qualities. Correct?"

"Mhm," Daphne said quietly, pulling her cloak closer around herself, trying to hide every inch of herself from view.

"Right," Hermione said. "Well…I think…I think it would be wise if we brought in a healer and perhaps a transfiguration master."

"I dunno…I don't really want anyone seeing me this way," Daphne mumbled.

"Yeah, I know, but they could help," Hermione said in a motherly tone. "A healer, especially…they're sure to have seen worse than this."

"I don't think it would be so bad to bring someone in, as long as it doesn't get around, you know," Harry said.

"Potter says he thinks it's a good idea," Draco said.

Hermione nodded. "For the Transfiguration master…or rather, mistress…I think we should call in Headmistress McGonagall. She's brilliant and I know Harry would trust her. As for healers…I know Penelope Clearwater usually deals with pretty unusual cases. Do you know of anyone really brilliant that you would trust, Severus?"

"They're healers. The vast majority would remain professional about the whole matter," Severus assured her, rolling his eyes. "Clearwater is decent enough for our purposes. Her advisor, Healer Jonathan Jenkins, would be the preferred choice, but he's a very busy man."

"Do you think you can ask around at work and see who would be available? Someone who's really good and very trustworthy?" Hermione asked.

Severus nodded curtly. "I will see what I can do."

"Good!" Hermione said, smiling. "Now, Daphne…Do you mind if I…if I ask you some more questions about your condition and maybe…maybe take a few pictures? I won't be showing anyone, it's just good to have notes, you know…To see if there's anything we can do. No one will laugh or say anything," Hermione assured her. "Even if I have to kick my husband out."

"Hey now! I'll behave," Ron promised.

Charlie and Hermione looked as though they doubted it and Draco laughed. Ron glared at him. Daphne slowly nodded. "Um…Sure."

"We can go over everything Daphne says tomorrow," Severus said, suddenly standing. "I need to be getting home…I have a daughter to take care of," he added, sending a glare in Harry's direction.

"Adele!" Harry said. "How is she? Where is she? Please don't let him go, Malfoy."

Draco raised his eyebrow and glanced around, noticing everyone else but Severus was looking in his direction. Maybe they didn't understand him, but they could hear him making all sorts of panicky noises. Before Draco could say anything, Severus Disapparated and Draco sighed and Harry made a disappointed moan. "How have they been?" Harry asked quietly. Draco stood up and walked over to the window to talk to him while Hermione began asking Daphne questions about her own case, holding her book in her lap with a quill poised over it. Charlie followed him to the window.

"Severus has been awful," Draco confessed. "He's very bitter…He's treating everyone worse than he ever has."

Harry the dragon cringed. "Ouch. I didn't think that was possible."

"Oooh it is," Draco assured him. He glared at Charlie when he noticed the red head smiling at him and ignored him. Harry glanced at Charlie with a certain look in his eyes.

"And Addie?" he asked.

"Eh…I'm not sure. I don't see her much. She's very smart," Draco said. "Apparently very beautiful, though I didn't know that until the other day. Severus keeps using glamours on her…Granger thinks its because she looks too much like you and your mum."

"Oh…Wow," Harry said, sounding disappointed, sad, and frustrated all at the same time.

"Yeah…Addie's not the happiest child," Draco said. "But…Well, he doesn't hit her or treat her badly or anything. I don't think."

"Great," Harry sighed.

"I don't know how you did it, but you left quite the mark on him," Draco said with a frown. "He hasn't been the same since you've been gone. I doubt he'll ever get better, honestly."

"There hasn't been anyone else?" Harry asked cautiously.

"I don't think so," Draco admitted. "No one he loves, anyway. I don't know what's so special about you, Potter, but he definitely loves you. I never thought anyone could affect him so badly."

"I hate that he's been so miserable," Harry said sadly.

"Especially since it's your fault," Draco muttered, feeling a bit pleased and a bit scared by the harsh glare the dragon gave him. He shook his head and eyed Charlie who was still smiling in awe at them. "What do you want, Weasel?"

"Oh, nothing," Charlie chuckled. "It's just…a very beautiful thing," he said mysteriously before walking off back to the other group. Draco was confused and didn't really know what to make of it.

Harry snorted. "Is it just me, or does Charlie Weasley have a thing for you?"

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A/N: I hope everyone likes it so far. Please review. 


	10. Chapter 9

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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CHAPTER NINE

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Harry was alive and he was a dragon and Severus didn't know what to think. He felt a big combination of emotions. He was happy at first, then confused and then angry and sad and it all circled around over and over again until he couldn't distinguish one emotion from the other. He wanted to stay with the dragon that was his Harry and he wanted to yell at him and tell him he loved him and curse him and touch him. Instead Severus left and went to Andromeda Tonks's house and picked up Adele and brought her home.

"Father?" Adele said when they walked into the house. She sensed something was wrong with him.

"Go to your room," Severus snapped.

"Bu-…Yes, Father," she quickly squeaked in response to his glare and took off running to her room. Severus stood in the middle of the living room, fists clenched at his sides until he heard the slamming of his daughter's door. He was tempted to go back and give that brat a piece of his mind. How dare he! No matter his excuses, Severus was hurt. He felt abandoned. It didn't matter that Harry was a dragon. He should have told him. Should have given him something. Knowing was better than not knowing and Harry should have known Severus enough by then to know that he would want to know what was going on, no matter how strange it was.

A dragon! His lover was a dragon. That was something that was hard to wrap his mind around and he might not have believed it if he hadn't actually seen the dragon. The beast was a dragon with no physical resemblance to Harry at all, not even his emerald green eyes but the same purple ones of all Hebridean Black dragons. Being near him, though, he just knew it was Harry…Something in the way the dragon looked at him and something about the way he moved and something even about listening to him converse with Draco was so undeniably Harry. No matter how surreal the situation, Severus couldn't deny that it was definitely his Harry.

His Harry who had been gone for five years! Leaving him alone with a daughter to raise. Leaving him alone period. Knowing Harry was alive somehow made being here feel so much more alone and he missed him so much more than he had in so long. It made Severus angrier. Harry didn't deserve his thoughts or anything right now. Severus marched into the kitchen, pulling out ingredients from the refrigerator and the cabinets, prepared to make the most complicated meal he could for Adele and himself, something that would require all of his focus. But even as he brought out mixing bowls and began his preparations, that blasted boy was still on his mind. No matter what he forced himself to think about, he could still feel Harry's presence heavy on his mind. The refusal to imagine his face or think his name did little to actually push Harry from his mind.

Meanwhile, Harry wasn't faring much better than Severus. Seeing the man after all of this time had left him feeling a lot of different things. He was happy to see Severus and afraid the man would hate him and afraid that Severus had moved on and curious about his life and Addie's life and sad that he had missed so much and sad that he would probably never be with him again and a strong longing to have the man and his daughter near him. He felt a bit irritated and hurt when Severus left, but he knew the man too well to have expected anything else.

Instead, Harry just watched everything else take place. He talked with Draco some and let Draco and Charlie pet him. It was so weird seeing his friends again. Most of the time he was sure he was dreaming and it wasn't even happening. It was scary to think of like that, though, because he wanted them to really be here and wanted them to try to help him. He doubted anyone could help, but the prospect that he could be human again was great!

He didn't dare leave. He had to stick around for him…He wanted to be near them, to watch them and hear everything they had to say which is why he parked himself right by the house with his head in the window. It wasn't that comfortable of a position, especially when he felt so restless and wanted to fly around, but he managed. Hermione was questioning Daphne about all sorts of things about her condition and about Lavender's and all of that other stuff that might help them all. Harry was sitting there teasing Draco about Charlie, though. It was a good way of not having to worry himself thinking too much about Severus and Addie.

"It's just you, Potter," Draco assured him, eying Charlie as Charlie walked back to sit by his brother.

"Maybe you have a thing for him, too," Harry snorted.

Draco's eyes grew wide. "You have been a dragon way too long."

"What does being a dragon have to do with this?"

"It's obviously addled your brain."

"C'mon…He's an attractive guy," Harry said.

"Then you shag him," Draco snapped.

"If I did that now I'd probably kill him," Harry chuckled. It earned him a strange look from the others, as a dragon chuckling sounded a bit sinister. "Besides, I love Severus. And I still think Charlie has the hots for you."

"We barely know each other," Draco sniffed.

"What does knowing someone have to do with wanting to shag their brains out?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not even gay," Draco protested.

"If you say so," Harry said. "I still saw you check out his arse when he was walking."

"I did not!" Draco exclaimed.

"That's okay, he checked out your arse earlier," Harry said.

"But I'm a Malfoy! And he's a Weasley! And I have a wife and a son!" Draco said.

"Calm down, Malfoy, it's not like you actually have to go do something about it," Harry said. He still wasn't entirely sure why Charlie would be interested in Draco. He wasn't that attractive, at least not to Harry. A lot of people would question Harry's taste in men, though, if they knew about him and Severus. The people who did know did that already. Maybe it had something to do with Draco turning into a dragon and Charlie's obvious interest in the creatures. That was all Harry could figure.

"Good. Because I'm not," Draco said.

"Alright then," Harry said.

Charlie watched Draco and Harry interact with fascination. There was something very remarkable about seeing Draco interact with a dragon. Many people in his line of work, Charlie included, would kill for the ability to speak with the creatures. The sound of the dragons was very familiar and soothing to Charlie who had been working with them for years. It was a bit strange seeing someone as prim and proper as Draco Malfoy talking to a dragon that way and being out here in the middle of the forest in a worn down cabin. He seemed out of place in his expensive robes and nice, tidy blond hair around everyone else. It certainly drew attention to the Slytherin.

He was attractive, though. Charlie would give him that. Charlie knew he was gay, though he hadn't exactly "come out" to everyone else yet. He wasn't hiding it, but he also refused to make a big deal about it. He actually thought he wouldn't mind getting to know Draco a little better, from what little interaction he had had with the younger wizard. To Charlie's pleasure, though, he knew that would be a challenging task.

"Poor Harry," Ron said to Charlie. "The only one he can talk to is Malfoy."

"That's not true,' Charlie argued. "Petra's around here somewhere, and I'm sure they've had a few conversations."

"Petra? Oh that other dragon," Ron said. "Well, you know what I mean! I actually don't know why Harry hasn't eaten him yet or something."

"Thank Merlin you're not a dragon, Ron," Charlie laughed, shaking his head. He loved his little brother, no matter how stupid he could be.

After about an hour Hermione had everything she needed from Daphne. "Thank you so much, Daphne," Hermione said with a smile, closing her book and putting away her things. "I can't promise anything because this situation is so unique, but I will do everything that I can to help you…All of you."

"If anything could be done, I would be very grateful," Daphne said meekly.

"Oh and would you like me to bring you some clothes? I noticed that you've been wearing Harry's," Hermione offered.

"Oh, no," Daphne said, shifting around on her chair. "I still have a couple of outfits of my own, but I rather wear this. It helps to keep people from ever guessing it's me if they get a glimpse, you know? The more confusion the better."

"Okay," Hermione said with a smile. She then turned to her brother in law. "Charlie, did Cho or Zabini say anything before leaving today?"

"They just said there was a lot to think about," Charlie explained. "They didn't really seem one way or the other about it."

"Okay. I'll see if I can talk to Cho tomorrow," Hermione said. Cho Chang worked in the same Ministry department she did. "I'll see if we can buy your group more time with Petra and Harry…We really can't have anything happening to Harry. I'll also try to get them to leave you alone, Daphne, but I'm not sure how much pull I have with the law enforcement…Do you think you might can handle talking to Blaise Zabini and letting him in on this?" She remembered Daphne and Blaise seemed to be close friends while they were at Hogwarts.

"I…I don't know," Daphne said uncertainly, though to Hermione that sounded like she was begging Hermione to please, God no, don't let anyone knew about this or see me like this.

"Alright," Hermione said. "Just know that if you can talk to Blaise, he might can help…You know, keep people away. Without help of magical law enforcement you might be a bit bombarded by people around here, especially once people think Harry's alive and he's the one living here. Even if he kind of is," she said with a small smile, looking towards the window where Harry was watching them.

"I…Well, I'll think about it," Daphne said, though she still didn't seem totally convinced.

"I'll try contacting people, then, and I'll let you know once we find people," Hermione said, standing up. "Would you mind if we come back tomorrow, maybe? We'd all really like to spend more time with Harry and…Well, I'd honestly like to talk to you some more, too." She felt bad for Daphne who seemed very lonely here at the cabin, with only a dragon she couldn't understand for company and sometimes going down to the lake to talk to Lavender. Hermione felt it would be good for her to have another person to talk to, to feel normal.

"Th…That would be fine," Daphne said. "You can all come by whenever. I know…I know Harry would like to see all of you. I think he gets very lonely."

"He does," Draco piped in, earning a half hearted glare from the dragon. It was still pretty scary looking.

"We'll be by tomorrow, then," Hermione said. "Or I will, anyway. Good bye, Daphne. And try not to worry, we'll surely find something."

"Okay, thank you. Good bye!" Daphne said, standing up and looking relieved to retreat to the bedroom. Hermione gathered her things into her arms and led the way out of the cabin, though she set everything down in order to cautiously approach the dragon. Harry turned towards her and leaned down carefully. Hermione smiled and ran up, wrapping her arms around his neck the best she could.

"We've missed you so much, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm so happy you're alive! Don't you worry, Harry, we'll do everything…everything in our power to get you help. I promise!"

"I know you will," Harry said quietly, though she didn't understand him. Only Draco looked on, feeling a bit strangely touched by the exchange. Hermione grabbed his face and pressed a big kiss to his scaly cheek before reluctantly stepping back. Ron went up and hesitantly clapped him on his shoulder.

"S'good seeing you, mate," Ron said awkwardly. "If you set Malfoy on fire or eat him or something, I won't tell anyone, though."

Harry snorted and Draco smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Tell Petra I miss her," Charlie said with a smile. He reached out and expertly stroked his hand down Harry's back and his front leg and whatever he could reach. "You make a very fine dragon, Harry. I'll be back tomorrow with some treats for you and Petra, if she'll come by."

"I'll try to get her to come," Harry assured Charlie, glancing up at Draco with hopes of a translation.

"Potter says he'll try to get her to come by," Draco said.

Charlie grinned and turned to Draco. "And will you come, too? Act as a translator?" His clear blue eyes were so warm and inviting and made Draco feel very calm and agreeable.

"Yeah…Yeah I think I can do that," Draco agreed without really thinking about it.

"Good," Charlie said, grinning broadly. "We'll all come by and see you tomorrow, then, Harry."

"And Severus?" Harry asked, turning to Draco.

Draco frowned. "I'll…I doubt it," he said honestly. "But…Well, we'll try."

"Thanks," Harry said, sounding disappointed. He, too, knew it was unlikely that Severus would come by before he was ready to yell at Harry.

The four gathered up and Disapparated, leaving Harry alone. The dragon immediately felt the loneliness come when they were gone. He had been feeling lonely for a while, but it hit hard the moment they left. He couldn't remember his depression feeling quite so heavy before. Instead of going out and flying as he had been itching to for a while now, he laid down on his stomach and stared into the distance. At least they'd be back tomorrow. They promised they would. And maybe Severus would come see him again one day.

Harry lifted his head when he heard the door open. Daphne stepped out with fresh clothes on and her caramel colored hair brushed and veiling most of her face. She tugged up the hood to cover her, too. "You uh…Feel like going to the clearing for a bit?" she offered.

There was a nice clearing in the forest that looked like it had once been a nice picnic area. Harry would fly them there sometimes and it acted as a good way for Daphne to get out of the cabin…a different location to enjoy. Daphne often brought food for them both, a picnic basket with stuff for herself and some large animal she would hunt for Harry or let Harry do that himself. Daphne would tell Harry about her day. She liked to talk about Lavender a lot and always lit up when she did. Harry liked to talk, too, even if she didn't understand him. It helped to have someone to talk to and sometimes Harry had a feeling Daphne had an idea of where his mind was.

Harry answered by turning to her and leaning down more to let her grasp her picnic basket and climb into his back before taking off and flying to their area.

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Author's Note: Please review! 


	11. Chapter 10

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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CHAPTER TEN

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"Charlie, the red human, is going to come see me today. He wants to see you, too," Harry told Petra when he saw her the next morning.

"Oh him," Petra said, sounding pleased. "Him I like. Will there be others?"

"Some of my human friends," Harry said. "They are harmless, though, so be careful with them."

"I'll do my best," Petra said, eying a deer as it ran by. "You will let me know when you see this Charlie?"

"I will," Harry promised. "Just keep close by."

"Oh I certainly will," Petra said. She licked her lips and quickly took off into the air, keeping her eye on where the deer ran on the ground. Harry watched her go and then took off flying in the opposite direction, back towards where the cabin was. The sun had only risen an hour or so ago, so he still had time probably but he didn't want to risk not being there when everyone arrived. He hunted around the area of the cabin and then flew around right above the cabin for a while, only landing when Daphne woke up and came outside to spend some time with him. She then decided to clean up a bit for when they had company and Harry did what he could by blowing around the cabin to clear off their "yard" of leaves and branches and excess dirt.

When they were done, Daphne sat outside in a fold-out chair and read him the news from the Daily Prophet when it was delivered. They apparently kept any suspicions about him being alive out of it so Harry was grateful. They only had a small article saying they were still working on the dragon problem and that things should be safe from now on. There was an article about the upcoming wedding of Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom, an engagement announcement for Cho Chang and Blaise Zabini, the latest victory for Pride of Portree against the Chudley Cannons, the arrest of a Death Eater (Rabastan Lestrange), and all sorts of interesting things. Harry found he even enjoyed the mundane things, like articles about how to properly take care of a gnome infestation when there wasn't enough "real news" or even all of the wedding and birth announcements. Hearing about familiar names or anything going on in the outside world, the world he belonged in, was great.

Daphne was midway through the sports section when they arrived. There was Hermione, Ron, Charlie, and Draco like expected only Hermione was holding a little girl in her arms. She was short and thin with black hair and blue eyes and the Snape nose. Harry gaped at the girl and stood frozen in shock. Addie immediately began to scream and Harry felt his heart break and he slowly backed away. Daphne frowned and looked from Harry to the group.

"Don't go yet, Potter. You wanted to see her, didn't you?" Draco said.

"She's scared of me!" Harry growled.

"You trust Granger, don't you?" Draco shot back.

Harry reluctantly stayed put and watched as Hermione sat down on the ground with the terrified Addie in her arms. "Shhh…It's okay…I wouldn't let anything hurt you, would I?" Hermione asked. She wiped Addie's tears away and took out her wand, removing the glamours. Harry laid down and watched his beautiful daughter with great interest. God, he loved her so much! He wanted to hold her and kiss her and tell her how much he loved her more than anything, but he couldn't do any of those things. It frustrated him, but he kept himself still and quiet instead of responding to his frustrations in case it scared Addie.

"Here, look…He's a nice dragon," Hermione said quietly, turning Addie in her arms so that she faced Harry. She had her thumb in her mouth and she stared at him with wide eyes. Beautiful green eyes. "Now, I need to tell you a story, okay, Ad?"

"Mkay, Aunt Hermy," Addie said quietly.

"Okay…Once upon a time, in a land not too far from here, a hero was born to a happy mummy and daddy. But when he was a baby, a very bad man came and killed them. The hero was raised by an awful family and one day he found out he was a wizard…"

"I know this story!" Addie said excitedly.

"There's more to it," Hermione said. "Anyway, when he was older, he and his least favorite teacher were stuck together. The teacher was helping the hero to help defeat the evil man. They got to know each other better and ended up falling in love. It was wrong, though, because the teacher and the hero weren't supposed to fall in love, so they kept it a secret. One day, though, their love made a baby…The teacher never knew about the baby because the hero had to go away to defeat the bad man.

"When the bad man was dead, the hero disappeared and no one knew where the went. Everyone thought he was dead. So the baby had to go to the teacher, who was very mean and very sad because the lost hero had taken his heart with him. The hero wasn't dead, though…A curse had turned him into…a dragon," Hermione said, smiling at Harry. "A black dragon with purple eyes who was very friendly and lived in the woods by a cabin. No one knew where he was for five years and he was very sad and very lonely because he missed the teacher and the baby. Then one day the hero's friends found him and found out the truth, but they don't know how to turn him back into a person yet. But the hero's friends agreed to do whatever they could to help bring back the hero to his teacher and his baby."

Addie's eyes were wide with wonder. "You mean…?" She looked from Harry to Hermione. "The dragon is my daddy?"

"Yes…That's your daddy, Addie," Hermione said. "Do you want to go say hi?"

Addie nodded and stepped forward slowly. Harry felt his heart race as she drew nearer. He felt anxious and eager for so many things, though everything he wanted to do was impossible as a dragon. He got as low to the ground as possible to make it easier for Addie and he kept his eyes on her the whole time. God, she was so beautiful! And so big! He remembered holding her as a newborn, a tiny little baby with tiny little hands and feet. He had missed so much…He hated himself for it. If only he hadn't performed that stupid Animagus transformation. He'd be able to have everything with Addie and Severus.

"H…Hi, Daddy," Addie said quietly, extending her arm and moving closer until her fingertips touched his face.

"Hi, Addie," Harry said quietly.

Draco cleared his throat. "Ahh…He says hi back, Adele."

Addie beamed at him and moved closer slowly and gave him a small kiss under his eye. "You're a pretty dragon, Daddy."

Harry laughed shakily. He felt like he could cry, though he cleared his throat. Even expressing less than harmful emotions as a dragon could be pretty scary. He had learned that the hard way. "Thanks."

"He said thank you," Draco said, sighing as he moved closer to stand by Harry and Addie. Behind them, Hermione and Ron decided to give them privacy by going into the cabin with Daphne, though Charlie just leaned against the side of the cabin to watch the three of them communicate.

Harry was so grateful to Draco for acting as a translator, feeling a bit better now that he actually could, in a way, tell Addie everything he had wanted to for so long. He glanced at Draco for a moment, though. "Thanks, Malfoy…Do you mind doing a bit more? There's…a lot of very important stuff I want her to know and it might be a lot…"

"It's fine, Potter. I have nothing better to do and this is just a good way for me to show off my new talents," Draco said with a shrug. "Besides, Del's my godfather's child…I don't mind her that much. I haven't seen her this happy ever."

That statement made Harry happy and sad at the same time. It was good that he could make his child so happy, but he was also reminded of how bad her life had apparently been so far with Severus apparently being worse than he ever had been.

"I love you so much, Addie," Harry said, feeling a bit self conscious about expressing himself this way with Draco right there, but it was the only way to get this done. "You mean everything in the world to me and I really hate that I've missed so much of your life so far. I just had to stay away to make sure that you and your father were safe. I didn't think it would be good for either of you to be around me. I've missed you both a lot, though, and life hasn't been very happy without you. I'm sorry for everything that I missed and I hope that one day I can be…normal…again so that I can be with you and your father."

Draco translated everything he needed to and watched Addie smile happily. "It's okay, Daddy. I know you wouldn't have left us unless you had to. I always knew you were alive somewhere and that you'd come back to us one day!" Addie said excitedly. "Ooh maybe Father has to kiss you! You know like how in fairytales you need true love's kiss to be all better!"

Harry snorted. "If only it were that simple."

Draco smirked. "He says we just have to convince your Father to come over here and pucker up."

"Yeah, that'll be hard," Addie said with a frown. "Father gets mean when people mention you, Daddy. They say it's cause he's really sad cause he really loved you and he misses you."

Harry frowned and closed his eyes. "Does he hate me?"

"Probably," Draco replied. Harry glared at him. He so didn't need to hear that. Draco shrugged. "Well, he only hates you because he loves you. You know how he is…He doesn't let himself get close to people and the first time he does in a long time and he just got hurt again."

"I didn't mean to hurt him," Harry said miserably.

"I know…And he probably knows it, too, it's just going to take a while for him to get it all figured out. He'll probably be even worse until then, but…eventually it'll be fine," Draco assured him.

"You think?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I have no idea, honestly," Draco confessed, shaking his head. "He's a difficult man."

"And that, my friend, is the understatement of the year."

"Since when did we become 'friends'?" Draco scoffed.

"Speaking of difficult men," Harry muttered.

"What are you two talking about?" Addie asked, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to figure it out.

"Big people stuff," Draco replied.

Addie laughed. "But he's not a people."

Draco, Harry, and Charlie had to laugh at that, too. Harry glanced over at Charlie and then remembered his friend. He reluctantly pulled away from Addie and backed up a bit before standing tall and shouting, "PETRA!"

Draco cringed. "Petra? Oh yeah…You think that's safe with Addie?"

"She'll be fine," Harry said. "I'd never let anything hurt Addie. She's been around humans for a long time, though."

"Right," Draco said.

Harry felt a bit guilty. He actually hadn't thought about whether or not it would be safe for Addie if Petra came around. He only remembered what he had promised his friend. He wasn't very used to this yet, figuring being around people and being around dragons. After Petra first tried to go after Daphne, though, Harry had had a long talk with her and they got it all figured out. Peruvian Vipertooths had a taste for humans, but she had been put on a more human-friendly diet at the reservation and she had to remember that out here. She didn't want to ruin things with her human friends. The only reason she was avoiding them now was because she hadn't been many places in so long and she wanted to enjoy a bit of a vacation before allowing them to take her back to Romania.

Harry moved back down next to Addie and watched the skies.

"What was that?" Addie asked.

"Your dad was just calling one of his dragon friends. She wanted to see Charlie," Draco replied.

"Oh so it's Charlie now?" Charlie said teasingly.

"Shut up, Weasel," Draco snapped, pale cheeks flushing a bit.

Addie watched them uncertainly and clung to Harry the best she could, watching the skies with trepidation. The idea of another dragon coming was still a bit frightening.

The small, copper-colored dragon appeared and moved in quickly, landing easily on the ground next to Harry. Her golden eyes immediately sought out Charlie and they grew excitedly. "The human Charlie!"

"Looks like your girlfriend's here, Weasley," Draco said with a smirk.

Charlie smiled and moved towards Petra slowly. "Hey there, Petra. We've missed you." He reached out to stroke Petra's head as she bowed down to let him.

"He is one of my favorite humans. Always easy to notice with his red hair," Petra said.

"You should be careful," Harry teased. "My blond friend wants Charlie for his mate."

"Excuse me?" Draco snapped at him.

Petra eyed him. "I do not know that he would suit Charlie. There is something very strange about that human."

"He's always been strange," Harry said, grinning at Draco.

"You're one to talk," Draco snapped, glaring at him.

"He does not smell like a human," Petra said. "He seems…like one of us."

"He kind of is," Harry said. "Remember how I said I was once human?"

"Yes, though I am still not sure to believe you," Petra said.

"Well, the same thing is happening to Draco now," Harry said.

"His name is Draco?" Petra said. "Hmm."

"Yeah," Harry laughed.

"That doesn't mean anything, you know," Draco snapped moodily.

"Aww, you two aren't picking on poor Draco, are you?" Charlie asked, smiling at Draco.

"I am not poor," Draco huffed. "And yes, they're being horribly rude."

"What are they saying?" Charlie asked, still stroking Petra.

"He has a nice touch," Petra said slyly, earning a glare from Draco.

"What, and let you in on the secret conversations of dragons?" Draco asked with a smirk, eyebrow raised challengingly.

"Oh I get it…Must be about me, then," Charlie said.

"And what made you believe you were worthy of being talked about by dragons?" Draco asked.

"Because he's ridiculously good-looking?" Harry asked.

"Is he?" Petra asked, eying him. "I guess he's not bad for a human."

"Shut up, you," Draco snapped. "You're not supposed to think anyone is attractive. You have Severus."

"Well, I don't have him…And even if I was a faithful lover, that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to find other men attractive," Harry said.

"All of this dragon talk is very fascinating," Charlie said.

"Translated to…I think it's sexy when you talk to dragons, Draco," Harry said as Draco rolled his eyes. "Like how Severus used to go wild when I spoke Parseltongue in bed."

"I did not need to know that," Draco groaned.

"Parseltongue?" questioned Petra.

"Snake language. I can talk to snakes," Harry said.

"Why on earth would anyone want to talk to snakes?" Petra asked.

"You should say something to Charlie, Draco. It's not nice to ignore people," Harry teased.

"Don't you have a daughter to pay attention to?" Draco snapped. Addie was still clinging on to Harry, watching the conversation she couldn't understand with bright interest and confusion. Harry chuckled and nodded.

"Maybe we can go for a fly," Harry suggested. "If you don't mind tagging along, Mr. Translator."

"That's fine," Draco said, then turned to Charlie. "Enjoy your time with your little girlfriend. We're going for a ride." He then extended his arms to Addie who grinned and let him lift her up. Harry got as close to the ground as possible to make it easy for Draco to carry Addie onto his back and the two made themselves comfortable.

"I cannot believe you are letting humans onto you that way," Petra said, sounding disgusted and intrigued.

"Well Draco's not totally human, is he?" Harry pointed out. "And the child is my daughter."

"Oooh…I still do not know what to make of your stories, Harry," Petra said. "But be well. I have more important matters to worry for than you."

Harry laughed and got to his feet slowly once Draco and Addie seemed situated. "Goodbye, Petra. Goodbye, Charlie."

"Potter says goodbye, Weasley!" Draco called down, grasping Harry and Addie tightly the best he could as Harry rose into the air.

Charlie chuckled. "I'll see you later, Draco."

Draco scowled at him but soon they were gone and out of sight. Harry knew exactly where to go. He would take them to the clearing. Not that he minded being around the cabin, but he wanted to take his daughter for a ride and spend some more time with her, even if that meant bringing Draco along. He was very grateful to have a way of communicating with his little girl and he intended to make the most of it.

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Author's Note: Please review! 


	12. Chapter 11

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

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Severus should have known something was up when Hermione and Draco didn't turn up at the office that day. Hermione at least sent him the notes and a note saying that she was visiting a friend that day. Severus was annoyed with them both, but got to his work. He tested Draco's blood for everything he could think of. No potions, no poisons, it wasn't tainted by Dark Magic, there didn't seem to be anything wrong. He did that first thing in the morning and then proceeded to spend several hours pouring over Hermione's notes, especially paying careful attention to the things she had written after he had left yesterday. All of Daphne's symptoms and Lavender's symptoms and the story Daphne had told them. He wondered if he should take a trip to Hogwarts and into the Forbidden Forest to talk with Firenze and the other centaurs about this supposed history. He also spent a bit of time researching some of his most respected authors in case any of them had written any sort of magical histories or theories about interbreeding among magical species or anything. His biggest hope was Bathilda Bagshot, the most celebrated magical historian of their time, might have something somewhere. He doubted A History of Magic would say anything about it, because he would have noticed, but he'd still check there in case there were any clues.

Towards the end of the day he left the research floor and took a walk around St. Mungo's to clear his mind and try to think of a good healer who might help Draco and Harry. Someone brilliant, who wouldn't judge and who wouldn't say anything to anyone else. Someone who would be interested in this subject and who wouldn't mind doing extra work outside of the hospital. Someone he could convince to do all of these things and hopefully without having to pay at all, or at least without having to pay much money. He finally decided to ask Healer Penelope Clearwater after all and since she had gone home before him today, he decided to write her a letter whenever he got home.

"Oh," said Andromeda with a smile whenever he arrived to pick up Adele. "I wasn't expecting to see you, Severus." Her brown eyes glittered with mischief he didn't like.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "And why wouldn't you expect to see me? You see me almost every day," he said impatiently. "I came for my daughter, as always. You cannot tell me you are old enough to be senile already."

"Of course not," Andromeda said. "Only little Addie isn't here."

Severus glared at her. "And why isn't my daughter here, Mrs. Tonks?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" she asked a bit too innocently. "Hermione came and picked her up only a few minutes after you dropped her off."

"Why on earth would Granger be taking my daughter anywhere?" Severus demanded, though he had a feeling he already knew what had happened. "What I also fail to understand is why you let her."

"Well I trust Hermione," Andromeda explained. "And she is Addie's godmother. You've had her pick up Addie before."

"Her name is Adele," Severus spat. "And I did not give her permission to take Adele anywhere. Furthermore, I have a very fine idea as to where Granger took my child and I do not appreciate the two of you scheming against me in this manner. Also, since you are both so very fond of my child, I feel the need to impress upon you this: should anything of this nature take place again neither of you will ever see Adele again."

Severus spun around and marched away from the house so that he could Disapparate, not seeing that Andromeda stood there still smiling at him as he left. The only thing he focused on was getting to Godric's Hollow and storming through the forest in search of the cabin they had been at yesterday. He barged into the cabin without warning and glared at Daphne, Hermione, and Ron who were all sitting there in the living room chatting amicably.

"Where is she?" Severus hissed furiously.

"Oh, hello, Severus," Hermione said with a smile.

"Where is my daughter, Granger?" Severus demanded through gritted teeth.

"Probably still out with her daddy," Hermione replied.

"You let a dangerous beast carry off my child?" Severus demanded dangerously.

"Don't talk to my wife like that," Ron said, glaring at his old professor. "And don't call my best friend a beast."

"The last time I checked, Weasley, dragons were not only classified as beasts, they are also classified as XXXXX by the Ministry of Magic," Severus said dryly.

"Well this dragon also happens to be Addie's father," Hermione replied easily. "Now where was I, Daphne?"

"Draco's with them, Professor," Daphne said quietly. "Harry probably took them to the clearing…It's safe, though…I mean…I've lived with him for five years and he's never hurt anyone."

Severus's eyes flashed dangerously at the reminder that Harry had spent his whole absence with one of his old Slytherins. "Well, Greengrass, would you care to share where this this clearing is?"

"Ah, I don't think that will be necessary," Hermione said, nodding out of the window just a few seconds before Harry landed. Severus glowered and stormed out of the house as Draco slid off of Harry's back with Addie in his arms.

"Get in the house right now," Severus growled at the girl. Addie cringed and looked terrified. Harry growled dangerously.

"Don't talk to my daughter that way!" Harry shouted. Severus didn't understand and Draco looked uneasy as he looked between them. "Umm…Addie, go on inside with Hermione and Ron, okay?"

"O…Okay," Addie said meekly. "Only…Father…Please don't be mad at Daddy…" she pleaded. Severus glared at her and Addie looked tearful as she ran into the cabin.

"You will never see her again," Severus snarled. "Do you care to know why?"

"I'm sure you'll enlighten me," Harry snapped sarcastically.

"He said yes, please, I would like to know," Draco said, earning a glare from the dragon. Harry was tempted to swipe the blond off of his feet with his tail.

"I'm sure he did," Severus said. "Now…You will never see Adele again because you, my dear, are a beast. You are a dangerous beast…A dragon! And you know what? That's all you'll ever be. There will never be any hope of you returning to your old self and even if you did, I would fight you the whole way to make sure you never even lay eyes on her ever again! If you truly wanted to return at all, I'm sure you would have found a way by now. And instead of even trying to make anything work for your child, you ran and you've hidden away for years letting everyone think you were dead. Miss Greengrass already informed us all that you wanted to let us know what was going on…But you didn't. You have no place in my life anymore, Mr. Potter, and you have never been anything more to her than the vessel that brought her into this world."

Severus glowered and clenched his fists before spinning around. He was going to go grab Addie and take her back to their home and he was going to contact his mother immediately. Despite his great disdain for his parents, he would rather they keep an eye on Addie rather than the likes of Andromeda Tonks or anyone else who would gladly aid Hermione Granger and the others in the task of reuniting father and daughter. His parents had tried to make their amends before and while he had been too stubborn to forgive them and too disturbed by his past to want anything to do with them, it had been a long time ago and those old wounds were nothing compared to these fresher ones.

"Severus wait!" Harry cried in a panic.

"Severus…Please…just wait!" Draco said.

Severus turned on his heel and glared at them. "What?"

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry, I love you…Please don't leave…Don't take her…Don't do this. Please just listen," Harry begged.

"He apologizes, expresses his undying love, and begs you not to take Addie and to hear him out before you do anything else," Draco translated.

"Yes, please, Potter…Please do tell. I would love the entertainment of listening to your pathetic excuses and ridiculous attempts at groveling," Severus spat.

"Merlin, you are such a git!" Harry growled. Draco opened his mouth, but decided against airing that message. "I love you and I love Addie more than anything. I have missed you…so, so much these past few years. I would give anything to turn back time and erase all of the damage I've done. I have tried everything I could think of to change back, but nothing has worked. I would not have been gone so long if I could help it. Being without you and Addie has been so hard! I miss you every day and I still love you, even after all of this time. Please, just…Just give me a chance. Let's…let's try to make this better. I…I need you. I need both of you more than I need anything else in the world. Please, please, please, Severus…Please don't go."

The desperation in Harry's tone made Draco feel bad for him and he relayed the message, feeling like he was intruding on something very private, but there was no way around it. They needed someone to translate.

Severus only sneered. "You've survived these past five years just fine, Potter, and I'm sure you'll do just as well for the rest of your miserable existence. I have work to do…Good day to you all."

He then turned and marched back into the cabin, grabbing Addie roughly and pulling her into his arms and quickly Disapparating with her. Once they were outside of the house he held her with one arm so that he could unlock the door, even if she was a bit heavy to do that with. He kicked the door closed and moved to her room with her only realizing halfway there that she was clinging to him and sobbing. "Be quiet, you silly girl," he commanded, his own voice breaking embarrassingly. He cleared his throat and blinked against the burning in his eyes. Once in Addie's room he unceremoniously dropped her onto her bed and walked back out, slamming her door closed and walking back to the front door to lock it and even locked his Floo to avoid anyone trying to call in.

Furiously he stormed into his office and scribbled two notes with a shaky hand.

Eileen Prince. Snape

I recall you expressing a desire to meet your granddaughter. If you would care to I would allow you to watch her at your earliest convenience.

\- Severus T. Snape

He fastened this note to his owl and sent her on her way and then wrote out the second note.

Penelope Clearwater,

As you may know, I am now working in the research center here at St. Mungo's. I have come across a very curious case and find myself requiring the opinion of a fully trained Healer. This will require a promise of secrecy and work outside of St. Mungo's walls and is a very unique and interesting case. If you can agree to the terms, let me know immediately and let us set up a proper meeting to discuss the nature of this case.

\- Severus T. Snape

He kept this with his other work notes in order to send to Penelope when he got to work in the morning. He then stood up and paced the room. He couldn't get his mind off of things by doing his work or cooking tonight. He really needed to do something physical. For one awful moment his mind flashed to Addie, but he quickly shoved that away by picking up a book from his desk and hurling it across the room. He needed something…productive. Severus growled and stormed out of the room and headed to the living room fireplace. He knew exactly what he needed now and with a smirk he kneeled in front of the fireplace. He needed a good shag…A rough shag to vent out his frustrations and a way of hurting poor Harry Potter's feelings. And it would do no damage to his home or to Addie. And Severus knew just the person to do.

While Severus contacted an old lover, Harry was miserable in the forest. With Severus and Addie gone he took to the skies and flew around for a while, trying to take his mind off of everything. He knew it would take a lot to get Severus to listen to reason, but it still hurt hearing all of the awful things Severus had to say and part of him was scared that Severus might never change his mind.

He had had a wonderful day with his daughter. They flew around and had fun in the clearing and he even chased after random objects she chose to throw. He felt a bit like a dog, but he didn't mind it so much because Addie had been happy. They also talked a bit with Draco's help and when it was time for her nap, Harry curled up with her and just enjoyed being near her. Harry was so happy he had that time with her and tried to use the memory to help cheer him up. If nothing got better he at least had that.

Eventually he landed in the forest, surprised when Petra landed beside him. He hadn't even seen her following him. "Tired of Charlie already?" he asked.

"I had a good time with Charlie, but I let him go when he saw that Draco was back," Petra replied. "I think you are right, they want to mate with each other."

Harry chuckled. "Oh, they want to mate alright."

Petra didn't understand his meaning, but she didn't really notice anything off except for his tone. "You sound unwell, young dragon."

"My lov-mate showed up today and was angry. We…fought," Harry explained. "He took our daughter with him."

"Ahh…Well you seem unharmed," Petra said looking him over. "How did he escape?"

She obviously thought he meant physical fighting. Harry wouldn't bother trying to explain. "He's good at it," he replied simply.

"You are sad you could not finish the fight? Or are you sad he is gone?" Petra asked.

"A little of both," Harry said.

"Well then, we should do something about that," Petra said. "I found some cows when I was flying earlier today. We can go hunt them and then I can show you the water place I found."

"Alright, let's go then," Harry said. He honestly didn't feel like doing anything, but he was sure spending time with Petra and trying to get his mind off of things would be better for him. He and Petra took off into the air and Harry followed his new friend to a farm where she had seen lots of delicious looking cattle.

While the dragons went in search of a meal, the others remained in the cabin, a bit shaken up by the events of the afternoon.

"I can't believe he'd talk to Harry like that! It's not his fault!" Ron was still ranting. "That greasy git was lucky he had Harry's attention at all in the first place!"

"Don't talk about Severus that way," Draco snapped. "Potter was the lucky one to have gathered the interest of such an intellectual and powerful man at all."

Ron looked furious and ready to say more but Hermione pulled on his arm and Charlie stepped forward to place his hand on Draco's shoulder.

"That's enough," Charlie said. "Let's leave this between Harry and Snape, okay?"

Ron grumbled unintelligibly and Draco just rolled his eyes and shrugged out of Charlie's touch when he noticed it a moment later. "What are you even doing here, Malfoy?" Ron demanded a moment later.

"I was here acting as a means of you communicating with Potter, but if my talents are truly that unneeded," Draco said.

"Well he's not around right now," Ron muttered.

"For goodness's sakes, Ronald," Hermione sighed.

"Why don't I just get him out of your hair then?" Charlie suggested, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, Draco."

"I don't follow orders from Weasels," Draco huffed.

"Well then would you do a Weasel the honor of accompanying him on a short walk around the forest, in case he needs the protection of an incredibly talented and powerful wizard?" Charlie asked smoothly.

Ron coughed and Hermione eyed them curiously. Draco flushed a bit but stood tall. "Only if he asks nicely."

Charlie laughed good-naturedly, undisturbed as most might be in this situation. "Please, oh please, dear Draco, do me the honor of walking with me."

"You would work on the begging, but it's a nice start," Draco finally relented, having a bad feeling where the conversation might go if they stayed here and certainly not wanting to do so in front of Hermione, Ron, and Daphne. He led the way out of the cabin and kept walking swiftly, Charlie easily keeping up.

"Why did you say all of that?" Draco asked after a moment. "Have you no proper shame?"

"Well, I don't find shame very proper, so I guess not," Charlie laughed. "I was just teasing. I figured if I made a show of it you might actually come with me."

"Why does it matter? Scared I'd hurt your precious baby brother?" Draco asked.

"No," Charlie said, but he didn't elaborate. He just smiled and Draco had to look away, fighting against his mouth muscles not to curl up and smile back at him.

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A/N: Please review! 


	13. Chapter 12

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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CHAPTER TWELVE

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Two weeks later, Severus found himself in a very awkward situation.

Things had been difficult. He had yet to hear back from his parents, so he had reluctantly been bringing Addie to work with him. For the rest of last week Hermione had been there on her vacation helping out where she could with things, but also fussing at him a great deal about his treatment of Harry and trying to slyly convince him to change his mind. Draco was there, but he was more quiet about matters. Addie was always whining and asking if she could see her daddy and she always dissolved into a fit of tears, mainly because Severus always yelled at her. The only good thing was that Penelope Clearwater agreed to his terms and agreed to schedule a short break from work so that he could take her to the cabin to look at everyone. This week was a bit easier now that Hermione had returned to her own job, but she still stopped by his office for at least an hour after she got off from the Ministry and still had her little comments to make.

Severus spent every night venting out his frustrations on someone new. He had not been sexually involved with anyone since Harry's disappearance, but that was quickly changing since yelling at Harry that one day. He called up old lovers and brought them over for a good, rough fucking wherever he pleased, often having to tell Addie to remain locked up in her room until he told her to come out. It was a lot better than any alternatives.

One evening, Addie ended up walking in as Severus was fucking Leon Trusky into the floor of their living room. Between Leon's moaning, the animalistic grunts coming from Severus, and the loud slap of skin as Severus rammed into Leon repeatedly, they were obviously too caught up to just realize Addie was there to begin with. The girl's falsely blue eyes were wide in shock and horror and confusion. "F-Father?" she asked timidly, backing away a bit as the fucking grew harder and wilder. "F-…FATHER?" Addie called a bit more loudly.

Leon heard her first and turned his head, face turning red when he realized the little girl was watching. "S…Severus?" Leon said and Severus finally stopped, breathing heavily as he grasped onto Leon's hips and turned to glower at his daughter.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in your room?" Severus barked.

"Y-y-yes, s-s-sir," Addie squeaked, eyes filling with tears.

"Then you should be in there now," Severus growled.

"B-but, si-sir," Addie stuttered.

"GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM NOW!" Severus shouted.

Addie muttered apologies and spun around and ran back down the hall, sobbing. Leon sighed and began to move, but Severus held him still. "Where do you think you're going?" Severus asked darkly.

"Oh…I just thought," Leon said then he shouted out loudly in pleasure as Severus thrust his hips forward.

"Don't think," Severus growled into his ear, picking up pace again. Severus gave it his all and it seemed nothing he could do really hurt Leon. Leon loved it and Severus wasn't sure if it pleased him more or just plain infuriated him. Only a few minutes later, Leon was shouting out his release and Severus followed a few minutes after with a loud groan. Once they caught their breath, Leon got dressed and left. He wasn't foolish enough to think this was anything more than just fun for the both of them. He had work to get back to and Severus had a daughter to deal with.

Severus marched into Addie's room and glared at the young girl who was sobbing her heart out with her arms full of her stuffed animals, one being a Hebridean Black that Hermione had sneaked to her. Severus wanted to rip that animal to shreds. He glowered dangerously at his daughter who peaked up at him fearfully through her tears. Severus said nothing as he moved slowly, grabbing the chair and pulling it to her bed, sitting down straight in it and just staring at her until she wiped away her tears and sat up, trying not to cry anymore.

"I have you orders tonight, Adele," Severus said quietly.

"I-I know, F-Father," Addie whimpered.

"What were they?"

"T-to s-stay in m-my room until…until you came to g-get me."

"And did you?"

"No, but-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Severus spat. "You disobeyed me."

"I'm sorry!" Addie exclaimed, fat tears falling again.

"Sorry isn't good enough," Severus said darkly. "You did not follow the rules, so you will be punished."

"No, Father, please! I'm sorry!" Addie squealed.

"Bend over my knee," Severus instructed.

"Please, Father, please! I won't do it again, I'm sorry! I'm a good girl!" Addie sobbed.

"Now!" Severus snapped.

"But…But…Please. I'm sorry!" Addie cried.

"Adele Regina Snape, you will do as I say or you will get a lot worse than a spanking!" Severus snarled.

Sobbing hysterically, Addie slipped out of bed and hesitantly crawled over her father's lap and shook violently. "I haven't even hit you yet!" Severus shouted. "Stop this nonsense!"

Addie sniffled, but forced herself to calm down a bit. She lay rigid in his lap and Severus growled at her. He raised his hand and delivered five hard slaps to her backside. The girl screamed and began sobbing again, though it wasn't as loud or panicked as it had been before he hit her. Merlin, her fear of him was worse than the actual pain of being spanked. She was such a drama queen, Severus thought, rolling her eyes. "Get off of me," he snapped when he was done and Addie jumped back into her bed gratefully.

"You still stay in here the rest of the night. You will only be allowed out for dinner and to use the restroom and only when I come get you to do so," Severus said, standing up to take his leave.

"F…Father?" Addie asked quietly once he put the chair away and was at the door. "Wh…What were you doing? To that man?"

"Adult things that are none of your concern," Severus snapped before walking out and slamming the door closed.

When Severus was going into his kitchen to prepare supper, Hermione Granger was just walking out of the living room of the Burrow and was headed upstairs. She had come to interrogate Charlie, but had gotten caught up with Molly and Arthur. They were oohing and ahhing over baby pictures of Bill and Fleur's newest baby, Dominique Apolline Weasley, younger sister to Victoire Isabelle Weasley. She had been born a few days ago and the happy grandparents couldn't get enough of her. Hermione felt it rude to just barge into their home and leave them, so she stayed a half hour before excusing herself. Her frustration and panic had ebbed a bit, but she still rushed the moment she could up to Charlie's room and banged on the door.

"Hey there, sis," Charlie said with a smile.

"Do not tell me it's true, Charles Weasley," Hermione said with her hands on her hips.

"Is what true?"

"You're not going back to Romania?" Hermione immediately began. She let herself into Charlie's room so that they could talk without being overheard. "If you are staying for Draco, let's get one thing straight! Draco is married, Charlie! He is married to Astoria Malfoy and they have a son! They might not be happily married, but that doesn't mean…Well, being interested in Draco Malfoy will get you nowhere Charlie so if you are staying because you like him, don't!"

"Whoa, calm down, Hermione," Charlie said quietly with a frown. He sat down on his bed and motioned for Hermione to do the same. "I'll admit, I didn't know he was married. And yes, I'm attracted to him…But I won't do anything about it. I respect marriage too much to help anyone cheat. But I will tell you that Draco is not the reason I'm staying. I love Romania and I would not abandon my career or the life I have there for some bloke I barely even know. I'm not in love or anything, Hermione, it's too soon for that. I'm attracted to him…That's it. And I would not be that stupid to just leave everything because I want to get laid."

"Oh," Hermione said, blushing. Maybe she had overreacted a bit, but Charlie had been flirting with Draco a lot and Draco could even be caught flirting back now and then. It seemed harmless but the moment Ron told her that the others were going back to Romania with Petra the Peruvian Vipertooth and Charlie was staying, it was hard not to jump to conclusions. "Well then, why are you staying?" Hermione asked curiously.

Charlie laughed. "Well, I guess I have to admit kind of for Draco…but Harry, too," Charlie said. "I just asked my boss for some time off. I figured I'm the dragon expert in this family and maybe I could try to help out where I can with things until everything gets sorted out. Plus I figure it gives me a good reason to spend more time with the family. I hardly ever see everyone so…I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time." Now, though, Charlie wasn't so sure. Was he being stupid for thinking he could be useful to them?

"Oh, Charlie," Hermione sighed, though she was smiling. She leaned in to hug Charlie. "I think…Well, I really think that's nice. It's good for Harry and Draco to have as many people that they trust around, and they both seem to trust you. I'm sorry for blowing up, I was just a bit concerned, is all."

"I can't understand why anyone would think I was that dumb, but I appreciate the concern," Charlie said, hugging her back. "So…This wife…Is she prettier than me?" he asked with a grin, chuckling as Hermione laughed and slapped his arm playfully.

That same night, things were not looking good at the Malfoy house. This was Draco's worst day yet and he had been hiding out in his office since he got home. He had brought in a full length mirror from his and Astoria's bedroom to get a good look at himself. He stripped off everything, standing completely naked in front of the mirror. He felt sick, like he might throw up at any second. Looking at himself wasn't helping, but he couldn't look away. He had been looking at various aspects of his body for the past two hours straight.

Streaks of white and silver could be seen in his pale blond hair. His iris and pupils were almost completely gone now, only very faded areas in his otherwise white eyes with streaks of bright colors running through it like opals. The spots had spread almost everywhere now. The darker flesh colors were smaller now and his skin was mostly dominated by that hard, rough blue patches or the pearly white scales. His fingernails and toenails were now hard, thick, cracked, and a dark gray color, a bit longer and looking like they were starting to narrow out. They'd become dragon claws before long, he figured. His lips were chapped and blue. Scales were even on his face now, just under his eyes and almost forming a full circle around them, like a mask. The lines that Hermione had found on his back (that they now assumed were where his wings were supposed to go) looked pink and Draco was scared he'd sprout wings at any second. He also checked his backside a great deal, just waiting for a tail to appear.

Draco ran his fingers over the scales along his collarbone for the tenth time and shuddered. This was horrible. He really needed to consider packing up and moving in with Daphne in that cabin in the forest. She had the right idea. He couldn't go around covered from head to toe all the time. He did what he could, but it wouldn't always be enough. And how would he hide wings and a tail if he got those? He could hardly wear gloves over his hands if his nails kept growing this way and he wasn't sure how he could go about cutting them. People were asking enough questions as it was about his whereabouts, what he was up to, why he was dressed the way he was, and so on and so forth. He had luckily spent the last couple of days happily free of this ailment. He looked completely normal for a while and had been able to fuck his wife and spend time with Scorpius, who he had actually missed a great deal. He'd even gone out and got his picture taken, just so he could have fond memories and a nice way to recall how good he looked without all of this. The pictures were on his desk, but it hurt to look at them when he knew he looked like this.

This really sucked.

"Oh my God!" an all too familiar female voice shrieked.

Draco spun around, eyes wide in horror when he saw his mother. Draco hurriedly ran to his desk to grab his robe to cover up in, but it was too late. Narcissa had already seen it all and now Lucius, Astoria, and Scorpius were all standing in the doorway. Draco's face flamed in embarrassment and he quickly put on his robe and his sunglasses and his hat, even though it was pointless now. They had all seen. His arms trembled as he turned to face them, clearing his throat.

"I-I thought I-I thought I l-locked the d-door," Draco stammered.

"I unlocked them, Draco!" Narcissa squeaked. "I was tired of you hiding and I was determined to get to the bottom of it! I…I never dreamed…Oh, darling…Oh, my sweet baby, what's happened to you?"

"Daddy okay?" Scoripus asked frowning.

"No, Daddy is not okay," Astoria said sharply.

"Astoria," Lucius said sternly. He then looked to his son as Astoria glared at him. "Draco? Draco…What's going on?"

"It's a long story," Draco sighed heavily, sitting behind his desk. "You really shouldn't enter a man's office without permission, you know. And certainly not when he goes through all of the trouble of warding against intruders."

"I'm your mother!" Narcissa snapped indignantly. "And it's been over a month, Draco! Almost two, now! I was worried sick and poor Astoria thought you were having an affair and…Well, since you wouldn't confide in anyone I was determined to see for myself what you were hiding! I did not mean to upset you, darling, but…Please, my darling…Please tell us. We are so worried and we would so like to help!"

Narcissa and Lucius, at least, looked concerned. Astoria looked shocked and furious. She grabbed Scorpius up into her arms and glowered at him before running off. Draco sighed heavily and ran his hands over his face. He would worry about her later.

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you," Draco said quietly, voice shaking. To his horror, tears stung his eyes. "Maybe…Maybe you should…You should see if you can…if you can talk to Severus and…let him explain."

"He's actually agreed to help with…with whatever this is?" Narcissa asked, sounding surprised. Draco forgot he hadn't told them that part, but he hadn't needed to. He didn't want to have to explain anything to them until they got it taken care of. Lucius seemed doubtful. He didn't trust Severus these days and worried that maybe he was only fooling his son.

"Yeah," Draco sighed, trying to seem calmer than he felt, but it didn't do anything. Narcissa rushed to his side and threw her arms around him. "Like I said, it's a long story."

 

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A/N: Please review! 


	14. Chapter 13

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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Narcissa and Lucius paid Severus a visit late that night to get the truth. The man wasn't happy but explained everything to them anyway and returned to their son to shower him in affection and promises that everything would be okay and they would help in any way possible and left Severus with a considerable amount of Galleons for everything he had already done and would do for Draco. If only his wife was so caring and concerned for him. Astoria avoided him the rest of the night, not that he went out of his way to find her. He wanted to see Scorpius, but was too afraid to face his son right now and was honestly worried that Astoria wouldn't even let him see him. It made Draco wonder what Astoria would say if she could see her sister and knew what was happening to her. He briefly considered that she did know but then he figured Daphne didn't want anyone to know, least of all her immature and judgmental little sister. Would Astoria even care that her own sister was suffering?

To his surprise, Astoria was sitting in the living room, holding Scorpius close to her when Draco walked out the next morning. She was dolled up as always with her chocolate brown hair piled up on top of her head in luscious curls, her blue eyes narrowed at him as he appeared. She even wore a pretty pink dress and matching heels and had Scorpius all dressed up in a little suit. "Where are you two going?" Draco asked.

"That's none of your business, is it?" Astoria asked icily.

"It damn well is. He's my son, you know," Draco said, irritated by Astoria's attitude.

"If he turns out like you, Draco, I swear to Merlin," she growled.

"What? You'll disown him?" barked Draco.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Astoria snapped. "I will not have you tainting my son."

"Our son," Draco reminded her. "And I'm not tainting him!"

"No fight! Mummy, Daddy," Scorpius pleaded.

"We're not fighting, darling," Astoria said, kissing the top of his blond head. "Are you at least getting it fixed?"

"What do you think I've been trying to do?" Draco demanded.

"Well, nothing's gotten done yet. I doubt it ever will," Astoria said.

Draco frowned, feeling a bit uneasy. "What exactly are you saying, Astoria?"

"I can't have a husband like this and Scorpius doesn't need a father like this," Astoria replied coolly.

"And I don't need a wife like you, now do I?" Draco snapped. "I don't care if you stay or go, but if Scorpius isn't here when I get back you will have hell to deal with from the Ministry. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Astoria said coldly.

Draco marched to the fireplace and Flooed to St. Mungo's, his body trembling a bit as he did so and he stared at Scorpius as he disappeared, actually fearing he might never see his son again. He would just have to do better, involve himself as much as possible into the research of his own problem to help solve it. Draco rushed down the hallway to Seveurs's office and let himself in, surprised to see Addie sitting in the corner. She had been there the past few weeks, but Draco still wasn't used to her being there. Draco frowned at her as she sniffled and turned his gaze to Severus who was ignoring them both in favor of reading over his latest notes.

Draco cleared his throat. "Good morning, Severus."

"Mhm," Severus grunted in response.

"They know now…my family," he said uncertainly as he sat down in front of Severus's desk. His eyes moved back to Addie who was staring at the floor sadly. He actually felt his heart ache a bit for the little girl. How furious Harry would be if he could see her now, he couldn't help but think. Harry was always asking about Addie, and it was always the same. Nothing horrible was happening to her, but nothing good, either. Draco was starting to wonder if that was true. Addie didn't show any signs of being abused. Hermione had checked her before leaving Andromeda's when they "kidnapped" her that one day. But physical abuse wasn't the only abuse there was. Addie didn't seem as happy or outgoing or lively as most children her age and it was really sad to see. Even if she wasn't annoying like Hermione and Ron's kids.

"I realized when your parents demanded a meeting with me last night," Severus said dryly, finally looking up at him.

"Astoria isn't taking it well," Draco said.

"I am not your therapist, Draco," Severus said coldly, looking down at his notes again. "You are lucky I am doing what I am for you."

"But you're not doing it for me. You're doing it for Harry," Draco said calmly. He felt a bit afraid by that flash of anger in Severus's eyes. Addie seemed to notice it from where she was sitting and she cringed. That disturbed Draco more than anything else and he glared at his godfather.

"I owe Potter nothing," Severus snapped. "If you are only going to be a nuisance to me, you can leave now."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Astoria left me," Draco said, voice shaking a bit as he stood up. "And you know, I wouldn't care if she did. I'm just a disgrace as a husband, the way I am now. What really gets me is that she might try to take Scorpius with her. I haven't been around my son in ages and I've only done so for his own protection! I don't know what I would do if Astoria truly took him from me."

"What-" Severus began in irritation, throwing his quill down onto the desk.

"Would you even care if Addie was gone?" Draco demanded.

Severus scoffed and rolled his eyes, sitting back in his seat.

"Obviously you care a little bit," Draco said. "Otherwise you'd have passed her off to someone else." Severus's eyes flared dangerously and Draco shifted a bit, resisting the urge to back away from the desk. "I honestly don't understand why she's even still with you. Unless you just enjoy having someone to beat around."

"I do not hit my child. Not unless she's being punished," Severus said, obviously offended. "But nothing that would constitute abuse."

"I didn't mean you were literally beating her," Draco said. "But you don't treat her well. You know what it was like having shitty parents, so why on earth would you become one?"

"Perhaps you should leave," Severus said darkly.

"Can't you just listen?" Draco pleaded. "If enough people tell you the same thing, shouldn't that say something?"

"It should say that I've heard it enough and don't need to hear it again," Severus growled.

"If you'd maybe change your attitude then maybe you won't have to hear it again!" Draco cried.

Severus was on his feet in an instant, wand drawn. Draco gulped and took a step back. "I do not need you or Granger or anyone who is barley into their adulthood telling me how to parent my own child."

"You sure about that?" Draco asked, eying Addie pointedly. "Look, I care about you and Addie and I didn't want to get involved, but…You could really fuck shit up for you and for Addie and for Harry if you can't start treating her better."

"She has a roof over her head, food in her stomach, clothes on her back, and many other luxuries! I don't hit her or starve her or anything of that nature. What more does she need?" Severus spat.

"Love…respect…compassion," Draco listed off.

"It may have escaped your notice, Draco, but I do not know how to love anyone," Severus hissed.

"Yes…You do," Draco said quietly. "Look, I don't mean coddle her…just…ease up a bit. It may kill your pride to do so, but maybe do something nice for her? Just a small treat or something?"

"We have work to do," Severus said gruffly sparing a short glance to his daughter. He knew Draco was right but he didn't want to admit it. He also didn't want to change and have everyone be right. He didn't want her to be happy. He didn't' want much of anyone to be happy when he was so miserable, actually. The mention of his own family, though, had hit hard and Severus wasn't sure what to do. Maybe he could take Draco's advice and just ease up without having to really go out of his way to be the world's greatest dad. It was just hard not to snap at her and take out his frustrations on her when she was there and she was so much like him…so much like Harry, that was.

Draco sighed, not sure if he had gotten through but feeling better that he had tried and he sat down and began to involve himself with the work Severus was doing.

While Draco and Severus went over the notes, Harry was flying Daphne to the lake. It was the lake where Lavender lived with a group of merepeople. Daphne had been in a wonderful mood all morning. Not only was she getting to see Lavender for the first time in over a week, but she was having what she called a pretty day. It was her best day as far as Harry could remember, only a few splotches of irritated red skin along her body. No more feathers, no more beak, only the lovely girl Daphne had always been. She had even chosen to wear one of the few outfits that belonged to her (though she had brought along Harry's Invisibility Cloak just in case her appearance changed for the worst). Her beautiful caramel colored hair was brushed out and she had taken the time to curl it and wash it and style it and everything (Harry didn't see the use, if she was going to be under water) and even a bit of makeup to her full lips and around her blue-gray eyes. She looked ready to go out on a date in a lovely low cut maroon dress and matching heels…Harry supposed she was. He hadn't seen her so happy in years and it was great to see her looking so lively and beautiful…a beauty aided by renewed confidence and pleasure.

The lake was just outside of Godric's Hollow and Harry landed by a tree and got down as low to the ground as he could so that Daphne could get off with more ease. When she was off, she turned to beam at him and hugged him and gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you so much, Harry," she whispered. "If you want you can fly around while I'm gone. But you know I won't be long," she said, pulling out the bit of gillyweed she managed to acquire. It would only last about an hour, maybe a little longer if she was lucky. She walked out and dipped her feet into the water and stuck the gillyweed in her mouth, walking further into the water as she swallowed it, wanting to waste no time. The moment she felt it start to take affect she jumped into the water and began swimming without care.

"Lavender?" Daphne called out in Mermish. She knew Lavender usually hung around the same areas most days and did so just in case Daphne was able to come by. There wasn't exactly a good way for them to communicate otherwise. She felt a bit anxious when Lavender didn't immediately respond and watched as fish swam by. She was hoping not to attract the other merepeople, as they didn't seem to like her very much. Just a few minutes later, Daphne grinned when Lavender swam up to her. She looked just like the other merepeople with her grayish skin, yellow eyes, and green hair…Most people would think she was ugly, but to Daphne she was lovely. Her eyes widened and she swam up to Daphne faster, smiling.

"Oh, Daphne! Are you cured?" she asked hopefully, eying Daphne up and down eagerly.

"Oh…No…Just having a good day," Daphne said, smile fading a bit at Lavender's disappointed look. She held out her arm to show Lavender the long oval-shaped mark still on her arm. "A lot of people are supposed to try and help us, though…I'm sure it won't be much longer now."

"That's great," Lavender replied with a giggle. "You look so beautiful, Daffy!"

"And you do, as well, Lav," Daphne said, blushing.

"Don't lie to me, Daph," Lavender said, shaking her head and reaching out to take Daphne's hands.

"Well, just because you don't think you doesn't mean you aren't," Daphne argued. "You're beautiful to me, Lavender, and that's all that should matter."

"It matters a lot," Lavender beamed. "I did fix my hair this morning." She giggled and shook her green hair all around her, showing off some of the flowers she had found to put in her locks.

"Perfect," breathed Daphne. Lavender Brown was the most amazing woman she had ever met. Daphne was absolutely smitten and had been since running into Lavender all those years ago, once the war was over and they were out of school. Daphne counted herself lucky to have found Lavender again and so accepting of how she was, especially since Lavender faced similar problems.

Lavender giggled and pulled on Daphne's hands, pulling the witch closer, wrapping her arms around her middle and kissing her deeply. Daphne wrapped her arms and legs around the mermaid and let Lavender swim her off to a more private area of the lake where they could snog in peace.

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A/N: Please review! A lot is coming so stay tuned! 


	15. Chapter 14

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

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Dear Severus,

I apologize for not responding sooner. Your father and I were on a short vacation. We are home now, though, and we would love to meet young Adele! You two can come by whenever you'd like. Your father retired a few months ago, so we're home most days. How have you been? I hear you're doing well at your new job. Do you have someone special in your life yet? I'd love to hear all about your life now. Hope to see or hear from you soon!

Love,

Your mother

Severus stared at the letter he received first thing that morning and sighed heavily, folding it up and stuffing it into his pocket. He walked out of his bedroom and almost immediately ran into Addie. The girl stumbled back and stared up at him fearfully. He glowered down at her and growled and stopped himself before he could say anything too horrible. "Go get dressed," he said. "You're going to meet your grandparents today."

"Grandparents?" she repeated.

"That is what I said, you stupid child! No go do as I say and get dressed!" The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Severus swallowed them back. This was harder than he thought. "Yes. Go get dressed. We have to leave shortly."

Addie nodded and ran to her room while Severus gathered his things for work. Five minutes later he walked into the living room and Addie was there two minutes later in a simple blue dress. They walked silently out of the house together and Severus pulled her into his arms and Disapparated with her. They ended up in Cokeworth, a neighborhood not far from Spinner's End where he had grown up. He Apparated them behind a tree where no Muggles could see and he set her down and took her hand and they crossed the street together. Included in the letter had been a phone number and an address and Severus eyed the doors until he found the right one. Number 8 Pelican Lane. It was a simple house made of brick with flowers in the front yard and a far more cheerful look than any home Severus had ever lived in.

Severus began to question whether this was a good idea the moment he knocked on the door. His parents, after all, were the reason he was the way he was. At least part of the reason. He remembered the yelling and the fighting and the hitting like it was yesterday and he had never been able to forgive him for the years of abuse and neglect.

He knocked again a few minutes later and the door finally opened to reveal Eileen Snape in a pink bathrobe with her pajamas underneath. Her dark hair was streaked with gray and she was heavier than Severus remembered and had aged a great deal. She had always looked as stern as Minerva McGonagall, so the smile she wore seemed completely out of place. "Severus! You came! Come in, come in."

"I'm afraid I cannot, Eileen," Severus said.

"Mother," Eileen corrected with a frown.

"I have work," Severus said, ignoring her. "This is Adele. Adele, this is your grandmother, Eileen."

"Er…Hullo, Grandmother Eileen," Addie said shyly.

"Goodness, she's as unsightly as you were as a child," Eileen said with a frown, kneeling down and extending her arms to the girl. "Now aren't you adorable?" she said with a smile and Severus rolled his eyes. As if Addie couldn't understand what "unsightly" meant. Addie stepped forward though and glanced back at Severus before accepting Eileen's hug.

"You wanted to see her, so I assume you would not mind acting as a babysitter?" Severus questioned.

"Of course not," Eileen said. "My son and my granddaughter will always be welcome in my home."

"I'll pick her up at 7:30, then," Severus said.

"Oh, Severus, wait a minute," Eileen sighed but Severus turned and walked off. "Severus!"

"Bye, Father!" Addie said quietly.

That same morning, Draco Malfoy was dealing with quite a predicament of his own. He sat on his living room couch, gaping at the newest edition of the Daily Prophet. His picture was on the front page with the headline: DRACO MALFOY - MAN OR MONSTER? It was a very detailed article about his mysterious absence from work and social events and how he had rarely been seen out in almost two months. There was also a great bit of details of his appearance from his darling wife Astoria. The scales, the coloring, the everything right there on paper. Astoria had apparently been in tears, now afraid for her life and young Scoripus's life. His head spun the first time reading it, having to set it into his lap and take several calming breaths. He felt hot and nauseous and right now he didn't think it had anything to do with his condition. He picked the paper back up shakily and reread it three times, becoming more terrified and more furious with every reading.

"ASTORIA!" he shouted, though he knew what he would get. Nothing. Silence. "ASTORIA!" he shouted a second time. "AST-…Dip…DIPPY!"

The little house elf appeared right in front of where Draco sat in his office. "Master is calli-"

"Draco?" The voice could be heard from the living room just down the hall. Draco had cut off the Floo in his office to avoid people walking in on him when he wasn't appropriate.

"Wait here, Dippy," Draco instructed and stood up, hurrying into the living room where Blaise Zabini's head was in the fire. "You can come through, Blaise."

Draco realized too late that he hadn't covered up completely. He had just gotten out of the shower when the paper had come and had only thrown on some pants and an undershirt. He figured it didn't matter now and he frowned as his old friend came through, looking at Draco with wide eyes. "So it's…true?"

"I'm not a monster or anything. I don't think," Draco sighed, sitting down on the couch and motioning for Blaise to join him. "I don't know what you'd call it exactly."

"What would you call it?" Blaise asked skeptically.

"Do you have time?" Draco asked.

"I should be at work, but I'm sure I can make an exception. I'll say I was doing business…I assume you'll want a divorce?" Blaise said.

"Most definitely. If she hasn't filed already," Draco said, rolling his eyes. He had intended to ask Dippy about Astoria…When she had left, what she had taken, where she was, if he knew, among other things, but that could wait. "Dippy, bring us some wine!"

"I'll firecall my office, if you don't mind," Blaise said. Draco nodded his consent and Blaise went to the fire to contact his department head while Dippy brought out a tray of two glasses and a bottle of wine. Draco might have asked for firewhiskey if it wasn't so early and Blaise didn't have work. A few minutes later, a relieved looking Blaise sat down. "He's a bit happy to hear I'm with you, so you better make it worth it, Malfoy," Blaise said.

"I'm sure it will be," Draco said dryly and began to catch Blaise up on everything. Daphne still hadn't elected to inform any Ministry officials to her predicament so everything was new to Draco. He also dropped Daphne's name into the mix and hoping he could set up some sort of better protection for her and Harry himself. He started with how he first discovered his symptoms to trying to get Severus's help to getting Hermione involved and Charlie telling him they had found Harry (that part of the story, Blaise knew a bit more about), and how it wasn't really Harry, but Daphne Greengrass occupying the cabin, how Harry was the Hebridean Black, the theories Daphne had expressed, and the latest events of his wife and parents finding out to Astoria's bitchiness yesterday morning. He gulped down a full glass of wine when he was done and Blaise was sitting there, stunned, taking it all in.

"I'd think you had gone mad, but…" Blaise said, trialing off and nodding to Draco, eying the scales on his neck.

"Yeah," Draco said miserably. "Severus says Penny Clearwater and McGonagall are supposed to be visiting sometime within the next week to further look into things. Do you think there's anything you can do? Keeping people away from the area and from nosing around?"

"I dunno," Blaise replied honestly. "I can see about it. They've been planning to have a group go out to look about the cabin, but things have been tied up in law enforcement with recent Death Eater sightings. I should have enough time to put in a word about it."

"And about Astoria," he said hesitantly, not sure he wanted to hear the answers to his question. "Do you think this could…mess things up? With the divorce? For me?"

Blaise frowned. "Honestly? I'm not sure she could put a claim on anything but Scorpius. You did make an agreement, didn't you?"

"Mhm," Draco replied. "Wouldn't surprise me if she didn't read it. But?"

"Well, whether you're dangerous or not isn't an issue, so much as so little being known. Right now they probably would classify you as a danger to the child," Blaise said honestly. "But even if you didn't go through with the divorce, you probably wouldn't be able to go near him, anyway. Not if Astoria tries to do something about it. The best we can do is hope that Clearwater and McGonagall can clear you. If they say you aren't going to be a problem to the child, then it shouldn't be a worry."

"Right," Draco said, shifting around uncomfortably.

"The fact that I don't intend on telling them everything might help," Blaise offered. Draco looked at him in surprise and Blaise grinned. "What? You think they'd trust anything if we said Potter is stuck as a dragon? No matter what we said about it being caused by an animagus transformation they'd just assume you were going that way. I trust you, though, so I'll help you anywhere I can."

"Great," Draco said. "Also…Do you mind speaking with Cho about maybe helping Hermione?"

"Hermione?" Blaise asked quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes, Hermione," Draco said, flushing a bit. "She's doing what she can in her department to keep Harry around-"

"Harry?" Blaise said, grinning.

"Yes, Harry," Draco snapped. "Anyway, Cho works in that department, too, and I was thinking that if you could let her know what's going on and see if she can help Hermione in any way with it? Hermione can use all the help she can get right now, especially if this gets bad. With my condition out in the open…Well, you never know."

"Alright. I'll talk to her when I get home tonight…or maybe before I go into the office, if she's alone," Blaise promised.

"Thanks. I appreciate it," Draco said. "Now…I'll meet you at the Ministry soon. I want to get this divorce going as soon as possible. First, I need to find out what I can about my wife," he said.

"Good," Blaise said, standing. "I'll go ahead and start drawing up some paperwork and I'll let you know if we hear word from her."

"Great," Draco said and bid Blaise goodbye before going to his room to get dressed. He called Dippy into the room while he found clothing.

"Master is call-"

"Yes, yes, master is calling Dippy," Draco said irritably. "Did you see Astoria before she left?"

"Yes, sir," Dippy replied. "Dippy saw her when master was gone. Mistress Astoria was-"

"She's not your mistress any longer," Draco snapped.

"-packing her things, sir."

"Did she take anything that wasn't hers or Scorpius's?" Draco asked. "That includes any family heirlooms I gave her that are no longer hers."

"She is taking some jewels Master Draco is giving her," Dippy replied, wringing his hands. "Dippy should have stopped her!"

"No, Dippy, it's fine," Draco said curtly. "We'll just make sure she gives them back. When did she leave?"

"Miss Astoria is leaving after Master Draco leaving yesterday, sir!" Dippy said.

"Do you know where she went?" Draco asked.

"Dippy is not knowing, sir, but Dippy is finding out?" Dippy asked.

"Please do," Draco said, pulling on his clothes. "No matter where I'm at, find me the moment you learn anything about her or Scorpius. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Master Draco!" Dippy exclaimed excitedly. "Dippy is going now!"

Draco felt more at ease as Dippy left. Things were turning for the worst now, but at least he was doing something about it. Being productive was a good feeling. He didn't bother hiding himself anymore. Everyone already knew and he might as well give the people what they wanted.

At that moment, Hermione Granger was pacing the floor of her office furiously. Ron Weasley stood by the door looking nervous as he watched his wife move around, waving the latest edition of the Prophet around in the air. "I cannot believe the nerve of that woman! Oh you should have seen her, Ronald! The day I went home with Draco to see about this whole mess! She's awful! A vile, pathetic excuse for a human being. How he could even call that nasty bitch his wife is beyond me! Married or not she is not his wife. She shouldn't even be considered a human being! Draco is suffering and he's going through so much and she would do this to him? Use this against him? Take his son away from him! She's giving him so many more problems to deal with on top of a very frightening situation and she just doesn't care! She's using it against him! And why? Oh I bet I know why. Because she can! Because she's a pureblood princess who doesn't need anything more in life, but still sees some opportunity to somehow gain more than she already has and she took it! Ugh! I want to hex her! See how her pretty little face looks after. I-"

"Mione, calm down," Ron said hopelessly.

"Do not tell me to calm down, Ronald!" Hermione snapped. "Merlin! Do you even know how much trouble this could cause? The truth about Draco is out in the open…They don't even know the whole truth! This is going to start paranoia and all sorts of things and there's going to be pressure to come out with the truth and…Just…Fuck!"

"Hermione!" Ron gasped. His wife rarely cursed and he didn't think he had ever heard that particular word come from her mouth…at least not often enough for it to create anything but surprise in her husband.

"This is bad, Ron!" Hermione snapped, throwing the paper onto her desk and rubbing her hands over her face. "Poor Draco…I should go see him, but I have work…Oh. Maybe I'll send him an owl and see how he's doing."

"You're not having an affair with Malfoy are you?" Ron asked, laughing nervously. He looked like he was trying to joke, but Hermione was horrified to see in his blue eyes that he actually was kind of worried about it.

"Ronald Billius Weasley, how dare you!" Hermione gasped. "Of course not! How could you even! Ugh! No, Ron, I am not having an affair with him! I'm more than positive he has his sights set elsewhere, thank you very much."

"Oh, okay good," Ron said, looking relieved and a bit scared from having his wife snap at him so. "Who does Malfoy fancy, anyway?"

"It isn't obvious?" Hermione asked, laughing.

Ron's eyebrows furrowed. "Um…No? It's not Daphne is it. That would be strange."

"And why would that be strange, Ron?" Hermione demanded, hands on her hips.

"Well, she…Because…!" Ron said, gulping when he realized the hole he was digging for himself. "She doesn't…seem his type."

"And what is his type?" Hermione demanded.

"Beautiful girls," Ron coughed. Hermione's eyes fired up angrily, but she managed to calm down and swallow hard. She did not have time to sit here and argue with Ron about his insensitivity.

"Don't you have to get to work?" Hermione pointed out stiffly.

"Wait, who does Malfoy fancy?" Ron asked.

"Figure it out yourself, Ronald. We have to work and make money to put food in the stomachs of your children," Hermione said, waving him off.

"But…Oh alright," Ron sighed. "If I can't figure it out, you'll tell me later?"

"Go, Ron!" Hermione said, irritated and amused by her husband.

"Oh, alright," Ron said as he walked out.

Hermione sat behind her desk and immediately began writing out a letter to Draco, offering her support and asking about his wellbeing. She was near the end when there was a knock on her office door. "Come in!" she called out.

To her surprise it was Cho Chang that walked in. "I hope I'm not disturbing you, I just wanted to say…Well…" Cho stepped in and closed the door behind her and didn't say anything else until she moved closer to Hermione's desk. "Blaise went to visit Draco this morning after reading the paper and he told Blaise everything…About everything, you know. He asked if I could help you with things and I just wanted to say that I'd be more than happy to offer what aid and support I can."

"Oh," Hermione said, surprised. She hadn't expected Blaise to tell anyone, but she figured he was more likely to relay the truth to his friends now that his condition was out there for the world to see. He would probably rather tell everyone the truth than let them run wild with their own theories. "Well, thank you so much, Cho. Hmm…I'm not sure of anything very specific right now but I have been working on a lot of different ideas and once I get things more organized I would love to meet with you to discuss them."

"Great," Cho said with a smile. "Though…I dunno if you heard. Astoria came down here last night."

Hermione's eyes widened in alarm. "Did she?"

"Mhm…About an hour or so after you left," Cho replied, taking a seat. "She demanded that we look into whether or not Draco is even human. No one really knows much about it. Clark thinks she's a bit mad, actually, but…Well I'm sure people will know the truth sooner or later. People think it's a bit strange, but they'll look into it, no doubt. I'm not sure what they'll want to do then, but I have a bad feeling it's going to become a very big issue with the Ministry and especially in our department."

"Merlin's beard," Hermione sighed. "I could just…ugh…strangle that woman!" she hissed. "I had no idea about that…Surely there are laws about half-humans, aren't there? I mean…Hagrid was half giant and Flitwick was part goblin."

"Yes, but I'm sure they'll look at it all a bit differently. Since he's part dragon," Cho said with a frown. "And certainly with the fit Astoria threw yesterday. She was hysterical and acted as though she and Scorpius were in grave danger."

Hermione groaned and dropped her head, roughly running her fingers through her brown hair.

"I'll try to find out what I can. I don't know if anyone knows you're that close to Draco, so maybe you can get some information yourself," Cho suggested. "And Blaise, I think, is going to be looking into the law side of things tonight. Right now he's meeting with Draco about filing for divorce."

"Good for him," Hermione said. If he was in the Ministry now, Hermione was tempted to go see him or send word for him to drop by after meeting with Blaise Zabini, but Hermione had a lot of work she really needed to focus on. She was so passionate about this and excited and eager to do something good with it, but right now she knew she had to focus on work and Draco might have other things in mind he wanted to do today. He definitely didn't need to stay in the Ministry of Magic any longer than necessary.

"I won't take any more of your time," Cho said, standing up. "Blaise did say he'll do what he can to offer protection and keep the Ministry away from the cabin. I'll see what I can find out and owl you and you can just let me know whenever you need me."

"Alright. Thanks so much, Cho. We all really appreciate it," Hermione assured her, watching as Cho Chang left her office. Hermione had never thought very fondly of Cho at school, but somehow Hermione trusted her intentions now. Draco had trusted Blaise enough to tell him and Cho enough to let her in on things. Hermione would take any help she could get. It was hard to put her studies away on this subject and focus on her actual job. There was so much good she could be doing and the moment Malfoy's name entered this department, Hermione would be all over it…For now, though, she had to remain focused. She couldn't wait to get home and start working on more plans and studying more and doing all that she could to help Harry, Draco, Daphne, and Lavender…Especially with the new information going around.

The article was even stirring emotions deep in the forest near Godric's Hollow. Daphne sat outside, finishing reading the article to Harry who was madly pacing the ground in front of her, whipping his tail around and completely knocking over two trees in the process. Smoke steamed out of his nose and his throat burned, just wanting to set something on fire. Heat boiled deep within him and he wanted so badly to hurt something…or more specifically someone and a particular someone named Astoria Malfoy.

"My own sister," Daphne sighed, looking more defeated than anything. "Wonder what she'd say if she saw me?"

"She'd probably treat you no better than she has Draco," Harry snarled, even though Daphne couldn't understand him.

"Can't imagine it'd be good, right?" Daphne said, looking sick as she folded up the newspaper, her arms shaky. "She outed her husband and the father of her child. Being his wife is bound to make her look bad, but she could get a divorce…She can't really get rid of her own flesh and blood can she? I'm sure she'd try to disown me or something…I bet my own parents would…but we would still be related by blood and that would still say so much for their perfect reputations."

"You're too good for them anyway, Daphne," Harry grumbled. "If they can't see that, then they can bugger off. Oh let them try to come over here and start something…FUCK!" Harry let loose and roared loudly, fire blasting out of his mouth and setting light to the nearest tree. Daphne cringed and sighed, watching it burn for a moment before summoning her wand. She did nothing let only watching it burn only putting it out magically once it looked like it might spread. "It'll be okay, Harry. I won't tell them anything about you."

"I'm not worried about me," Harry scoffed.

Daphne offered him a small smile. Somehow, even if they didn't speak the same language, Harry thought she might have an idea of what he had said.

"I need to get pissed," Daphne sighed, glancing over her shoulder at the cabin. "I might have some firewhiskey left…Say…Can dragons drink? I can probably put some firewhiskey in a bowl for you, if you want," she offered with a smile.

Harry just chuckled and shook his head, just in case she actually thought to try it. As tempting as the offer was, Harry wasn't sure it would be safe to get a dragon drunk.

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A/N: Please review! 


	16. Chapter 15

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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Addie wasn't sure she liked her first day with her grandparents Eileen and Tobias. Eileen told her she didn't like her dress and took her shopping. Addie thought it was nice of Eileen to buy her new clothes, but she didn't really like them that much. They were very dark and not the bright fun colors Addie loved. Eileen then insisted on giving Addie a haircut that she didn't like either. It was way too short. Eileen also liked calling her Adele Regina and Addie wasn't sure why her grandmother wanted to use her first and middle name at the same time. Plus she made the nastiest food and insisted Addie eat every bite. Eileen fixed up some asparagus with lunch and when Addie tried to leave it behind Eileen and Tobias both ranted on about wasting food until Addie started to cry because she felt bad and then they got all weird and hushed her up and made her finish eating it and told her it was good for her.

Tobias was quiet and left her alone mostly, only asking her to get him things all day. Addie didn't mind much because it gave her something to do. She was used to playing with Teddy and having Andromeda read to her and she was just bored here unless Eileen was dressing her up or trying to teach her to clean or make things. Tobias slept a lot and he was grumpy and it made her think of Severus, though Tobias wasn't as mean. He glared a lot and grunted words instead of speaking them. Addie spent most of the day answering Eileen's questions. She asked Addie a lot about herself at first, like her favorite people and hobbies and things. When Addie told her that Severus was teaching her the piano, Eileen volunteered to teach her another musical instrument. Addie wasn't sure she liked that but Eileen insisted. She said they'd start violin lessons whenever Addie came back.

Towards the end of the day Eileen was around Addie more and asking more questions.

"So, dear, when is your birthday?" Eileen asked as she taught Addie how to set the table for dinner.

"March 7, 1998," Addie replied.

"Hmm," Eileen said. "Where were you born?"

"Umm…I dunno," Addie replied. "A hospital, maybe. That's where most babies are born, right?"

"Right," Eileen said.

Once they sat down for dinner the questions continued. "So, Adele Regina, who is your mother?"

"I don't have a mother," Addie giggled.

Tobias raised an eyebrow. "Everyone has a mother."

"Yes, of…Oh, well, no," Eileen said. "Severus created a potion that would allow homosexuals to reproduce together. That makes more sense with his preferences, though I never imagined him one to want a child."

"He doesn't want a child," Addie said. "But he had me anyway."

Eileen raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me my Severus had some sort of potions mishap."

"What?" Addie asked.

"Severus was pregnant?" Tobias asked, looking stunned.

"No, silly," giggled Addie. "My daddy was."

"Well, who is your daddy?" Eileen asked.

"His name is Harry Potter," Addie said with a bright grin.

Tobias just nodded and shoved more food into his mouth. Eileen looked shocked. "Harry Potter? Child, that is nothing to joke about."

"I'm not joking," Addie said with a frown. "He really is. Though I'm not supposed to talk about it, Father gets sad when I mention Daddy. He doesn't like people to know who my daddy is but I thought it was okay because you're family."

"But…Harry Potter is…" Eileen sputtered.

"Who is Harry Potter?" Tobias grunted irritably.

"He's a hero!" Addie said brightly. "He saved the world you know!"

Tobias snorted. "Right."

"No…No, Tobias, the girl's right," Eileen said quietly.

Tobias looked up and looked between the women like he expected one of them to start laughing at any second. "So our son's been shacking up with some…do-gooder of some sort?"

"Daddy's been gone a while now," Addie said quietly, though she didn't feel like explaining more than that.

"You poor dear," Eileen tsked, reaching over to pat Addie's arm. "Stuck with that father of yours all alone for years. It must be horrible."

"It's not so bad," Addie said cautiously. She didn't like when people started talking bad about her father and Addie had a feeling they were talking badly about him.

"Yes, well…Really, Harry Potter?" Eileen asked, seeming not yet over that fact.

"What's so great about this Harry Potter bloke?" Tobias demanded.

"Well…He used to be our son's student," Eileen muttered. Tobias choked on his drink and started wide eyed at Eileen.

"Yep! They fell in love when Daddy was sixteen and at Hogwarts," Addie said.

"Sixteen? Good God what is wrong with that boy?" Tobias snapped, slamming his cup down. "We did not bugger him up that badly, Eileen."

"I know, I know…It's hardly our fault, Tobias. What mistakes he makes are his own," Eileen sighed. "I wonder if he raped the poor boy…Some potion or some spell. Severus really is brilliant when it comes to magic, if only he applied it the right way." Eileen sounded disappointed and she shook her head. "I don't see how else he could have gotten with Harry Potter. The boy's been famous since he was a baby and is the most beloved person in the Wizarding world." Eileen knew of her husband's dislike for magic, but she couldn't stop herself from explaining the situation and for once Tobias actually appeared interested (and a bit scandalized) by the topic. "As a young boy he was fighting off a grown wizard…An evil man who Severus pledged himself to in his youth. That is a long story that even I do not know all of the sordid details about. At any rate, the boy is a legend. He defeated the most powerful Dark wizard of our time and may or may not have survived. He's been missing since the final battle ended. I just assume he's died, because there's no other explanation. Left the world heartbroken. And from what I remember, the boy was quite handsome. How Severus could have…Oh…Well of course, unless he was only lying to the girl. Oh I'm sure there's a good explanation for all of this nonsense. We'll ask him when he picks up the girl."

"Right," Tobias agreed, taking a drink of his water. "We need a long chat with that boy."

"I don't know what he's thinking," Eileen muttered.

Addie didn't like these two very much. She ate her food in silence. Eileen tried to act nice, but she wasn't very good at it in Addie's point of view and Tobias was a little on the scary side, even though he hadn't even done anything yet. Addie was happy it was getting dark outside. That meant that Daddy had to be coming to get her soon.

That same moment Draco Malfoy was sitting in his bathroom on the floor with his back pressed against his bathtub. Between his body's constant feeling of sickness plus the stress of the day, the toilet had become his best friend for the better part of the afternoon. His stomach finally felt settled and he had brushed his teeth, but he had felt no need to leave the bathroom. For some reason the bathroom was always his favorite room in the house. Whenever he was younger he would escape to the bathroom whenever he was upset about something. It was a good excuse to get out of uncomfortable situations and a good place to be unbothered. Even his bedroom wasn't completely private with his parents always barging in, but people tended to leave the bathroom alone. Even with no one left in the house to bother him, he still felt better here.

His spent a good few hours at the Ministry of Magic discussing divorce procedures with Blaise and ended up ranting to his old friend a great deal. When he left he was hounded by reporters, all happily snapping pictures of his ruined face and body and all demanding answers. Now he just wanted to be left alone forever.

Draco groaned when Dippy entered. "Master Draco, Dippy is sorry for intruding, but Mister Charlie Weasley is wanting to be let in."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Alright let him in. And bring some wine or firewhiskey or something."

"Yes, Master Draco."

Draco had every intention of getting up and going out to greet his guest, but for some reason he didn't feel like moving. He sighed heavily and tried to gather the energy to move, but couldn't find it. It didn't matter because a minute later the door opened and Dippy walked in with an armful of bottles and Charlie trailing behind him with a grin. His smile softened when he saw Draco and instead of worrying about being pitied or feeling desperate, he felt an odd fluttering feeling in his chest and a jolt in his stomach. His body felt very weird around Charlie Weasley these days. Draco knew what it was, even if he wouldn't actually acknowledge it to himself.

"How you holding up?" Charlie asked, taking a seat beside Draco on the bathroom floor. Dippy set down the bottles before them and left without a word when Draco waved him off.

"I dunno. Not well, I don't guess," Draco laughed bitterly. "I filed for divorce this morning."

Charlie's eyes lit up in surprise and Draco smirked. "You can't think I'd stay married to that hag, could you?"

"No, I guess not," Charlie laughed. "Just…divorce. I dunno," he said with a grin.

Draco scoffed. "Just because you grew up believing in true love and happily ever after…" He trailed off and snorted. "Ours was an arranged marriage set up to ensure the survival of purebloods. We have Scorpius, we did as intended…But now that I've brought shame to her by being the way I am and she brought shame to my family by telling the world…Well, there's no love lost. I never loved her."

Charlie frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Draco shrugged. "We have Scorpius. That's all that matters. Not that I actually have him now."

Charlie reached over and gave his leg a squeeze. "It'll all turn out alright, Draco. Not that I can do much, or anyone really, but we'll all do what we can to help the situation."

"Well, you can always have a drink with me. Less pathetic than drinking alone, you know," Draco said, opening a bottle of firewhiskey. He felt some strange sense of anticipation as he handed Charlie one of the other bottles. Drinking with Charlie couldn't lead to anything good…But it could provide the very excuse he needed to do what it was he really wanted to do with Charlie. Things he couldn't' even let himself think about. Draco repressed all of those thoughts and desires for a while because it was wrong to think that way. He was a Malfoy, a man…and he very well couldn't be gay. Right now, he didn't care about that as much as he should have.

"Here's to the hope that things don't get any worse," Draco said, raising his bottle and clinking it against Charlie's before taking a long drink. Charlie laughed and followed suit.

An hour later, Severus Snape was leaving work with the feeling of dread. He did not want to have to face his parents again and honestly didn't even want to pick up Addie. He Apparated to Cokeworth, though, and marched up to the house bravely. He would take Addie and go home and wouldn't let himself be bothered by his parents. He had work to do, notes to finish, and letters to write. Both Minerva and Penelope were available to go to the cabin tomorrow and he had to make sure everyone knew to be there. He had a lot to prepare for tomorrow. He knocked on the door loudly and braced himself for whoever would answer. Surprisingly it was his father.

"Oh, it's you," Tobias grunted.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Yes, it's me. I came to pick up my daughter."

"Right. Come in, then," Tobias said and walked back into the house.

Severus really did not want to go inside. This was some trick of his mother's, he was sure, and he didn't want to fall for it. At the same time, though, he needed to get Addie and leave. While it was okay to leave her here during the day, Severus did not feel comfortable leaving her here. Severus remembered what growing up with these two had been like and suddenly questioned why he had brought her here at all. He actually felt a bit of dread as to the condition he'd find his daughter in and stepped inside, not bothering to close the door. Hopefully it would make it easier to leave.

"Severus, you should know better than to just leave the door open," Eileen scolded, walking into the living room as Tobias sat back down in front of the TV.

"I'm not staying, Moth-Eileen," Severus said sternly.

"And why not?" Eileen demanded. "We haven't seen you in years, Severus."

"For good reason," Severus said coldly. "Where's Adele?"

Eileen waved him off. "She's decorating cookies and cupcakes, Severus. Might as well let her finish her fun. Come, have a cup of tea."

"I do not want tea," Severus said. "Adele! We're leaving."

"Yes, Father!" Addie called back, sounding relieved.

"No, finish what you're doing, Adele Regina!" Eileen called back. "Sit, Severus."

"No," Severus snarled.

"Well, you're not going to talk to us any other way," Eileen snapped.

"What's this I hear about you shagging little boys, Severus?" Tobias asked, muting the television.

Severus paled. "What?"

"Addie seems to be under the impression that Harry Potter is her father," Eileen said with a laugh, though her dark eyes eyed Severus seriously, searching for the truth.

"Hmm," Severus said. "Hurry up, Adele!"

"I couldn't help but informing her that Harry Potter could never be involved with the likes of you," Eileen said. "No offense, Severus darling, you know I love you…you're my son…But you have a rotten attitude and you are no looker."

"None of us are," Tobias said.

Eileen shot him a glare. "Harry Potter is a real celebrity…a hero. Don't tell me you've been feeding her such stories. It doesn't do well to lie to children."

"Thank you, though I am not certain if I should take any parenting advice from either of you," Severus remarked coldly and walked into the kitchen to hurry Addie up. Severus sighed heavily when he found the shape Addie was in. She was covered in flour and it looked like she had cake mix in her hair and cookie dough all over her and now she was adding icing to the mess as she decorated a tray of cupcakes, a tray of completed cookies beside them. He had never seen a child look so miserable around sweets before. He couldn't help but smirk.

"I-I'm hurrying, Father," Addie promised, arms shaking a bit when she realized he was there.

"Poor girl. She seems terrified. What have you been doing to her, Severus?" Eileen demanded, following him into the kitchen.

"Eileen, get me a beer!" Tobias called. Eileen scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please!" he added a few seconds later.

"I thought you said he was sober," Severus said, rolling his eyes.

"He is. He has been for over twenty years," Eileen said. "He gets one beer a day."

"Kind of you," Severus said, eager to get out of here.

Eileen walked to the refrigerator. "Who is her other parent, Severus?"

"That is none of your concern," Severus snapped. "Adele, if you don't hurry it up…"

"I'm almost done! Only two more!" she exclaimed.

"She's almost as hopeless as you always were, Severus," Eileen sighed, then grinned a bit too brightly at Addie. "Good job, dear!"

Addie looked up at Eileen, stunned, then turned a questioning gaze to her father. Severus couldn't help but chuckle, which only made Addie look more stunned. He then glared and she remembered her job and added icing more quickly.

"You can't avoid your mother forever, Severus," Eileen said with a sigh.

"We'll see about that," Severus grumbled and reached down to take Addie into his arms, actually not caring about the mess she would make on his robes. He was too eager to leave to care about something silly like that. "Goodbye. I'll drop her off the same time tomorrow." Not that he wanted to, but they still seemed a better option than Andromeda for the time being.

Eileen raised an eyebrow and watched them go, surprised he considered bringing her back. "Alright. Goodbye, my darlings! I love you both so much!"

Severus Apparated at the front door, not really caring and figuring it was better than waiting to get all the way across the street and behind the same tree. He put Addie on her feet as soon as they got right in front of their own front door and he unlocked it and let them in. "How was it?" Severus asked, honestly curious about the experience.

Addie wrinkled her nose. "I don't like Grandmother Eileen or Grandfather Tobias very much."

"Why not?" Severus asked in amusement.

"They don't seem like real nice people," Addie said. "Strange."

"Yes, very strange," Severus said. At the moment, for the first time in a long time, he felt no animosity towards his daughter. "We should get you in the bath," he said, eying the stains all over his own coat.

"Sorry, Father," Addie said, suddenly looking fearful.

"Yes, well, you shouldn't make such a mess," Severus said with a sight, taking off his coat and hanging it. He'd clean it off later. Addie seemed surprised by his calm reaction and moved forward warily. "Let's go get you cleaned up," Severus said and led the way to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, things were going well in the bathroom at Malfoy Manor. Charlie found he was enjoying himself just drinking and talking with Draco. He did feel some thrill at the thought of being alone with the young man…really alone…but he didn't expect anything. He knew he was attracted to the young blond, but had told himself he wouldn't do anything due to Draco being married. But since he had filed for divorce, Charlie wasn't sure if it would be okay to make a move or not. Draco was likely upset at the moment though with what had happened with the Prophet this morning so Charlie had no intentions of making any moves tonight. He would just enjoy Draco's company, get to know him better, and cheer him up.

"She thinks I'm a monster," Draco was saying, voice slurred and disgusted. "Can't blame her much…Look at me!"

"I see you," Charlie chuckled, drinking more of his own firewhiskey. "She can't think of you as a threat…you haven't done anything. Have you?"

"No!" Draco snorted. "Just sprouting scales and whatnot. Merlin I look ridiculous," he muttered, glaring down at his exposed arms.

Charlie snorted. "Do not tell me you are fishing for compliments."

"What?" Draco asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He was undeniably adorable, Charlie decided. Adorable and sexy.

"What? You don't seriously think you're unattractive do you?" Charlie asked.

"Right now, yes," Draco said. "My average self, I'm damn good-looking. Best looking bloke in the world. Right now…I look…ridiculous."

"You do not," Charlie said. "I think you're stunning. Not everyone can pull off scales."

Draco laughed. "You just like dragons, you freak."

"Yes, I do," Charlie admitted with a grin. "And you're part dragon."

"Therefore you like me," Draco said, laughing. "Ha. You don't shag dragons, do you?"

"I'm not shagging you, am I?" Charlie replied.

"No, but you want to," Draco said.

"I do?" Charlie asked in amusement, though his pulse raced a bit more, suddenly very aware of how close he was to the blond and very aware of that knowing look in those silver-gray eyes.

"Mhm," Draco said, leaning in and kissing Charlie. Charlie wasted no time kissing him back, turning to the side a bit to face Draco better and wrapping his strong arms around the slimmer man and pulling him closer. If he was completely sober he wouldn't be doing this. He would consider that Draco was probably drunk and upset and didn't know what he was doing and was only going to regret it in the morning. And while Charlie wasn't exactly drunk, he was feeling too good to just stop and turn down what was being offered when he wanted it so much.

"You've really never shagged a dragon?" Draco asked after a minute.

Charlie kissed him again before replying against his mouth, "No, I haven't."

"Hmm," Draco said, kissing him again. "I might let you."

"Shag a dragon?" Charlie asked with a grin and kissed Draco again. He tasted so good. Like firewhiskey and something deliciously Draco.

"Mhm," Draco murmured. "We'll have to start with a part-dragon, though…So you're ready."

"M'kay…Sounds good," Charlie breathed, kissing Draco deeply and stopping talking altogether. He gripped Draco's shirt and pulled it over his head, only breaking their kiss a second to pull it off so he could run his hands over Draco's chest, enjoying the contract between the smooth skin and rough scales he felt there. Draco shivered beneath his touch and moaned into his mouth. Charlie felt heat pooling into his stomach and his arousal growing and he wanted Draco so much. He didn't want to waste any time. He pulled away only to pull off his own shirt and went back to kissing Draco while undoing the younger wizard's pants. He urged Draco to get up a bit so he could pull them off and ended up sitting the other wizard on the edge of the bathtub while he yanked off the pants and underwear and shoes and socks, tossing them all aside. He grinned when he saw the blonde's erection standing proudly. He felt like he could make a comment about being disappointed about there not being any scales there, but that would make this job less fun. Besides, dragons didn't really have scales down there anyway.

Charlie kneeled down and grinned wickedly at the blonde before grabbing his thighs and pulling them apart, swooping down to take the cock into his mouth. Draco grasped the edge of the bathtub hard with one hand and Charlie's shoulder with the other. Gods, that felt good. Charlie's mouth was so warm and wet and wonderful. Astoria had never given him head so enthusiastically before. Actually, no one had. He didn't even have to ask, though, Charlie went right for it and he looked like he was even enjoying it. Draco stared down in fascination as calloused hands gripped his hardness and that beautiful mouth worked up and down on his cock. His thighs quivered and he moaned loudly, grasping harder as that wicked tongue pressed along the underside of his dick and swirling all around the aching flesh.

The redhead gave his mouth a break after a moment, kissing lightly at Draco's thighs while he caught his breath, stroking the cock firmly up and down. Draco seemed to enjoy watching the hand working over his hardness and Charlie grinned. He loved doing it. Not many people enjoyed doing what wasn't physically giving them pleasure, but Charlie loved giving just as much as he loved receiving. There was something about the feel of a cock in his hand or in his mouth that was enjoyable, made all the more arousing and pleasurable by the look on his lovers's faces or the sounds they made. Every moan Draco gave was like a gift and Charlie was eager to hear more. He moved back and swirled his tongue around the head of Draco's cock, surprised when Draco lost balance and fell back into the tub.

"You alright?" Charlie asked.

"Take off your pants," Draco instructed, scrambling a bit to get into position, though he kept stumbling a bit, finding it hard to get upright. Charlie followed instructions and eagerly kicked off his shoes and tugged off his pants, though he didn't have the patience to worry about his socks. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest as Draco got onto his knees and folded his arms over the back edge of the tub, resting his face there and watching Charlie with lust-filled eyes. "C'mon, do it."

Charlie grinned. He grabbed his wand and climbed into the tub behind Draco, loving the way Draco wiggled in anticipation, watching his pale hips move, enjoying the sight of his full white arse. Charlie reached forward and eagerly squeezed one of the globes, relishing the sound of Draco's loud moan while he muttered a quick cleaning spell and a lubrication spell. Lubrication spells weren't as good as having actual lube, but it would do in a fix. Charlie hadn't had the forethought to actually carry any in his pocket.

"You ever done this with a bloke before?" Charlie asked, sticking a finger into his mouth and wetting it up a bit to make it easier before sliding it into Draco's arse.

"Ye-ssss!" Draco said, cringing a bit and burying his face into his arms. He failed to mention that he hadn't taken it up the arse, but had been giving it. Charlie didn't think to be more specific and seemed pleased with the answer. It burned a bit, but he was feeling too good and too gone from the alcohol for it to really hurt much. Charlie added a second finger and a third a bit more hastily than really good for anyone's first time, but they were both eager. Charlie spit into his hand and stroked his cock a bit before leaning over Draco and pressing the head of his dick against Draco's entrance.

"You ready little dragon?" Charlie breathed into Draco's ear.

"M'not little," Draco protested, but pushed back against Charlie anyway.

"You ready my big ferocious dragon?" Charlie corrected with a chuckle, sloppily kissing the back of Draco's neck.

"Fuck me already, you-ahhh!" Draco cried out as Charlie pushed into him hard. That hurt a bit more than expected, but it was more shock than anything. Draco wiggled back against him, cringing at the intrusion a bit and Charlie waited a minute for Draco to adjust, reaching around to grab Draco's dick into his hand and began pumping it. Draco groaned and relaxed a bit, pressing back more. Charlie took the cue and kissed down Draco's spine a bit before sitting up and grabbing the younger wizard's hips and began fucking him. It felt a bit strange and not so pleasant at first having something up there, Draco decided, but he moaned when Charlie went back to stroking him because that felt good.

After a few minutes of that, Charlie touched something deep within Draco that made him gasp and clutch at the tub. "Holy mother of Merlin what the…oh…oh…fuck…fuck…yes," Draco moaned, pressing back against Charlie eagerly. His movement went against Charlie's rhythm a bit so the fucking was awkward for a moment until Charlie stopped and used both hands to grasp Draco's hips and held him as still as he could as he fucked him harder now. Draco immediately reached down to tend to his abandoned prick and moaned loudly. He didn't care if it wasn't manly to take it up the bum, this was bloody fantastic! "Fuck, Charlie…fuck!" Draco gasped.

"I am," chuckled Charlie, groaning in pleasure as Draco tightened around him. They were both too eager for release to stop and draw it out so Charlie picked up the pace, grasping Draco's hips tightly enough to leave bruises as he thrust in and out of Draco as hard and fast as he could. Draco pressed back encouragingly, though he stopped trying to keep up with Charlie and mostly just laid there and enjoyed the pleasure pulsing through his body. Every hit to his prostate was a magical feeling, a jolt of pleasure unlike anything he had ever experienced.

Both could feel their orgasms approaching before long. Draco was moaning nonstop now, gripping the bathtub for dear life while his toes curled in response to every wonderful feeling pulsing through his body. Nothing had ever felt as good as being with Charlie. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," Draco chanted as the feelings suddenly rushed over him and he felt an explosion of pleasure hit him and he cried out as he came, hand letting go of his dick in order to grab the edge of the tub with his other hand for support.

Charlie paused as Draco's channel tightened around him, groaning in pleasure at the feeling around his cock and waited until Draco calmed down before picking up with fucking him again. He lasted only a minute longer before tumbling over into his own orgasm, releasing deep inside of Draco's body with a loud groan before resting his body on the one below him. Both wizards took a few minutes to catch their breath before Draco grunted and pushed back against Charlie to get him off. Charlie pulled out and rolled over, laying back in the bathtub. It wasn't comfortable but he didn't have the energy to move anywhere else yet.

"That was pretty good," Draco said, rolling onto his back beside Charlie with a contented smile. It was a bit cramped with them both like this, but neither minded at the moment. "Ugh…I feel gross now," Draco grumbled, glancing down at his body slick with sweat and his own cum and he even felt the odd sensation of Charlie's cum dripping out of his arse. He cringed and twisted around a bit before sitting up. "Hmmm," he said with a grin and pulled the shower curtain around the tub. "Time to get clean," he said and reached forward clumsily to turn on the shower.

Charlie and Draco shrieked as the ice cold water hit them and they scrambled to get up, but only slipped and fell down and ended up laughing. Charlie leaned over to kiss Draco and Draco, shivering as he was, kissed Charlie back deeply and laid down on his back, letting Charlie crawl over him. Snogging seemed the best way to distract themselves until the water warmed up, even as they shivered against each other and let out gasps and quivering breaths into each other's mouths while they waited. They were both fine with it as Draco wrapped his legs around Charlie, feeling strangely comfortable with the redhead at the moment.

It had to be the alcohol talking.

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A/N: Please review! Next up: the day Minerva and Penelope finally get to look at everyone! 


	17. Chapter 16

**TITLE:** _Fairy Tales and Dragon Scales_

Big thanks to Sablesilverrain for being my beta!

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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The next morning, Severus got Addie ready and dropped her off at his parents' home. Eileen tried to talk to him some more, but he Disapparated the moment he let go of Addie. He did check beforehand to make sure he wasn't caught, but it was a small neighborhood and it was a bit early. He went to his office for only an hour to finish up some paperwork before gathering his things and heading out to the cabin in the forest just around Godric's Hollow where everyone was meeting. He was displeased to learn that he was the first one there and Daphne didn't even seem to be around. Harry was, though. The dragon was laying in front of the cabin, apparently asleep. Severus sighed heavily and headed towards the cabin to let himself in and do some reading before everyone showed up. He stopped, though, with his door on the handle and turned to look at Harry.

It was still strange thinking of this dragon as his Harry. He did miss him, though, and his heart ached looking at his sleeping form. Severus had to look away, feeling tears stinging his black eyes. He had been alone for so long…without love for so much of his life. How could he keep turning away Harry, keep avoiding him this way? Severus was so angry with him…and honestly just angry with what life kept doing to him. He wanted things to be better with Harry and he wanted more than anything to have a happy life with Harry and Addie, but he was scared. When he'd loved Lily she had ended up hating him and then dying, and when he loved Harry he hadn't seen the young man for five years and now there as a possibility he'd be stuck as a dragon forever. It was too hard. Severus had faced the Dark Lord for many years, risking his life day after day to face him and spy for the good, but being in love and having faith in something and someone... That was a lot harder and a lot scarier.

Severus felt his face heat up when he realized purple eyes were open and staring at him curiously. How long had Harry been awake? Severus cleared his throat and looked away. Harry wished he hadn't. He had woken up to find not only Severus there, but Severus looking at him and not glaring in hatred. His heart had swelled hopefully. Even though Severus had looked away, he wasn't as harsh as Harry was used to nowadays. He had to be careful. He didn't want to ruin any progress they might have. Harry raised his head and scooted forward a bit, cautious. "Severus, please… Please don't leave me," Harry begged quietly, though he knew Severus wouldn't understand him. He hoped by some miracle Severus would get him the same way Daphne did… Not through language, but through a deeper understanding entirely.

Severus heard the noise Harry made and knew he must be speaking to him. Severus didn't know what he was saying exactly, but he didn't think it was anything too awful. Nothing he deserved. Severus frowned and hesitantly took a step towards Harry. Harry took the invitation and took another step closer himself. Those purple eyes were focused on Severus intently, trying to read him. Severus didn't know what he wanted. He couldn't just let everything go, could he? But it was becoming so hard to put up this fight against the man he loved.

Severus didn't move again, but Harry stepped closer and closer until he was right in front of Severus and was able to lean forward and down to gently nudge Severus's chest with his nose. His heart raced in anticipation… He listened to Severus sigh. The older wizard could not believe this was happening. He rolled his eyes and reached out and reluctantly stroked Harry's face, closing his eyes as all resistance crumbled down. It was hard hating Harry, being so angry with him when what he really was was happy to have him back and more hopeful than anything that they could find a way to help him.

"You are in so much trouble when you get out of this, Potter," Severus growled, pressing his lips to the nearest area he could, right above Harry's eye.

Harry laughed. "I have a feeling we'll be fighting for months." It wouldn't be easy… Not with the two of them. But they'd be fine… Harry just knew it. Harry would gladly put up with any bullshit Severus gave him as long as they'd be happy in the end and he'd have his lover back and he'd see his daughter again.

"You realize I cannot understand a word you say, don't you?" Severus reminded him with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't sure what all of the noise was, if it was talking or growling or what, but he wouldn't put it past Harry to try to communicate with him, even though Severus didn't understand him.

Harry laughed. "Can't wait to change that."

"It's not much, Severus, only spouting out grand professions of love and adoration and how fit you look in your new robes and how he loves the sound of you threatening to kill him in the morning," Draco said, voice amused as he walked over to them. Severus and Harry both eyed him as he limped towards them.

"You look like you had your brains buggered right out of your skull," Harry sniggered.

"Did something happen, Draco?" was Severus's more tactful question, though he smirked with that same knowing gleam in his eyes.

Draco flushed and cleared his throats. "I tripped and fell downstairs getting rid of some of Astoria's things last night. Landed pretty hard… On one of her heels, you know. God-awful things, they are."

"Right," Harry snorted.

"Hush, you," Draco snapped.

"It was Charlie, wasn't it?"

"Malfoys do not get fucked," Draco scoffed.

"Smells like a lie to me," Harry said, grinning and moving closer to Draco, sniffing the air. "You know dragons can smell sex, don't you?"

Draco's eyes widened. "Wh… What?"

Harry laughed and Severus merely looked confused. Before Draco could direct the question to his godfather, someone else approached the group. "Good morning, Draco! Harry… Severus," said Charlie.

"He looks happy," Harry snickered.

"Can dragons tell if someone's had sex recently?" Draco asked.

Charlie eyed Harry. "They do have a keen sense of smell. They'd probably notice it more than any human might."

"Drop the act, Draco," snickered Harry. "You two reek of each other."

"Goddamn it," Draco muttered.

Charlie flushed as well and looked away, scratching the side of his head. "Err… So do we know when everyone is showing up?"

"Mrs. Granger will be bringing Minerva by whenever she finishes paperwork in her office," Severus explained. "Mr. Zabini had a bit of work to finish at St. Mungo's and will bring Miss Clearwater by whenever he is done. He may be bringing Miss Chang with him, as well. I do not believe it will be late, but I thought it safe to be here, since they gave no specific time."

"Yeah, that's why w-I came," Draco said.

"You were going to say 'we'," Harry said.

"Yeah, I know. Shut up, Potter," Draco snarled.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Harry asked.

"I was drunk," Draco said defensively.

"Wasn't that your excuse for the last bloke you slept with?" Harry pointed out.

"IT'S TRUE!" Draco said, still blushing. He had enjoyed sleeping with Charlie and even though he had been drunk, he remembered it all and knew he had liked it… A lot more than he should have. He also knew he wanted to do it again. He had freaked out a bit when he woke up by Charlie in one of the guest bedrooms on the same floor as the bathroom they had been in, but it wasn't very unpleasant, especially ogling Charlie in his nude splendor until the other wizard woke up. The redhead had been a bit cocky about Draco's staring, but only in demeanor. They never really said anything about what had happened between them. Draco sure as hell didn't want everyone else knowing about it. "So," he said, speaking English and turning to Severus, "what were you two up to when I arrived?"

Severus quirked an eyebrow. "What did it look like?"

"Looked like you were playing friendly for once," Draco said with a grin.

Severus snorted. "I am not friendly."

"At least not out of bed," Harry coughed.

The next two hours went by quickly. Harry, Severus, Draco and Charlie all spent time teasing each other and trying to force the others to admit the change in their relationships until Daphne came out to welcome them and invited them all in. Harry rested outside with his head in the window as usual and watched them. Daphne tried to play the polite hostess, though everyone could see how nervous she was. She was making it hard for Harry to remain calm. He hadn't thought so much about what today would bring until Daphne made her own worries so obvious. She changed clothes many times, apparently not sure about whether or not to dress up or dress in a way to cover her deformity. She straightened up a lot and when she spoke, it was fast and half-hysterical.

No one said anything about what was going to happen.

Harry was ready, though. He found it hard to remain in the window. He was reluctant to leave, should the conversation turn somewhere interesting and especially not wanting to miss all of those glances Severus would shoot him. It was unbearable at times and eventually he would take a quick walk or fly around the cabin to help ease some of his nerves. He knew better than to hope to be human again by the end of today, but he was at least hoping to get some hope for his condition. Things with Severus were starting to look up… He couldn't have them tell him he'd be a dragon forever.

It was eleven by the time Hermione and Minerva arrived. Harry had taken that time to fly and landed back in his place eagerly when he noticed the two women were knocking on the door. Minerva looked surprised and Hermione smiled. "That's Harry, Pro-Minerva."

"Of course," The older witch said, still looking stunned. The door opened and Severus, Charlie, Draco, and Daphne stepped outside. Daphne did her best to hide behind the others, looking hesitant and half-ready to bolt back inside of the house and lock herself up. She was wearing a gray hoodie that covered her face entirely, wearing as much as she could to cover every inch of her skin. "Oh, hello, Severus… Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy… And is that Miss Greengrass?"

"Y-yes, Professor," Daphne mumbled.

"Oh, don't be shy, dear," Minerva said, beckoning her over. "Let me have a look at you. And you as well, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco shifted uncomfortably and glanced over his shoulder at Daphne. Draco didn't look like he had much wrong with him today, you'd have to look closely to notice the blue tinge around his ears and small patches of scales on his neck. He seemed very self-conscious, but, then, they both did. "Nothing to be ashamed of," Minerva said impatiently. "I'd like to look at you both before I try anything with Mr. Potter."

Clearing his throat, Draco looked imploringly at Daphne who reluctantly stepped up and they walked slowly side-by-side to approach Minerva. "Let me see you both," She instructed, straightening her spectacles and pulling the sleeves of her robes up a bit to shake her hands free. Draco reached shaky fingers up to unbutton his shirt halfway down to show her the scattering of scales here and there. Minerva stepped forward but didn't touch him, only eying the areas a moment in serious concentration. If she was surprised at all by his appearance, it didn't show. She was too busy trying to take mental notes and figure things out to really be bothered, especially since Hermione and Severus had both already warned her of the conditions her old students were in. "Alright," Minerva said, turning to Daphne. "Now you, Miss Greengrass."

Daphne's arm twitched, but she stayed still for a long moment before finally sighing heavily and hastily unzipping the jacket she wore and yanking the hood down and stripping it off to stand in the short-sleeved plaid shirt underneath. It was a particularly bad day for Daphne. Her face was severely deformed where it looked like her face had nearly formed into the beak of a phoenix, her blue-gray eyes smaller and rounder. Red and gold feathers seemed to be overtaking her caramel hair and even the light hair of her arms looked to be turning gold and red. Even more of her skin was shiny and pink, looking like she had burned herself badly. Her hands barely had much use now and the others were surprised she managed to unzip her jacket with how bad they looked. Some of the fingers were half-stuck together, like the beginings of talons.

"Oh, dear," Minerva sighed, reaching out her hand and Daphne hesitantly reached out to place her hand in her old teacher's. Minerva lightly traced the hand with her fingers and stood back, drawing her wand. "I will perform a few tests."

Everyone watched with great anticipation as Minerva waved her wand over the two, murmuring incantations under her breath. The first was to check for the Animagus spell. Another to check for any spells cast upon each of them. One would force an Animagus transformation if there was one, but nothing happened, only maybe causing Draco to have a few more scales and Daphne a few more feathers. She even attempted to check their magical core, though she said she would allow Penelope to go back over it, since she was not especially skilled in that particular area and had only ever used the spell a few times. "It does seem as though some magic is at work here, but I don't think it is an outside source," Minerva said with a frown. "I will do more research, but there is not much I can think to do, I'm afraid. I can teach you a few stronger glamours, but I do not think they would work entirely on very bad days."

"Did they tell you the theory the centaurs had?" Charlie asked curiously. Humans and centaurs rarely got along, but they were truly a wise race.

"Yes, they did," Minerva said. "I do have a theory of my own, though I would not recommend trying anything until we find out how to help Mr. Potter."

"What is it?" Hermione asked curiously.

Minerva smiled. "I would have thought you would have come up with it sooner, Mrs. Granger," Minerva said. "If they are right—and I don't see why bother to question it since we have no other alternate theories—then it makes perfect sense why becoming an Animagus, as Mr. Potter had done, would help the situation. Having that… Ability…allows for an outlet for whatever magic is overwhelming you and morphing your bodies to resemble the appearance of your… 'Ancestors.' It seems that in Mr. Potter's case, however, the magic that had been dormant until now has completely overpowered everything else and that is what is making it difficult for him to change back into his human form. I am hoping I can help bring him back to us and if I can figure out how to do it then it might very well be in the best interest of you both to do the same. I cannot be sure it will work, though, so we'll just have to wait and see."

"So… What… What if you can't help Harry?" Daphne asked quietly.

Minerva frowned deeply. "I honestly have no idea, Miss Greengrass. But rest assured, I will do all that I can to help you all." She then turned to Draco. "Mr. Malfoy… Would you be so kind as to act as a translator for Mr. Potter and myself, if needed?"

Draco shrugged and eyed Harry. "I normally do it anyway, it's not a problem."

"Thank you," Minerva said and moved hesitantly closer to the dragon. Harry blinked down at his old Head of House and tried not to move too much, not wanting to scare her or anything. He felt strange and he wasn't sure if he was excited or terrified. This was it… It wouldn't be long now before they had the answer as to whether or not he'd be able to turn back into a human or not. His eyes flickered nervously over to where Severus stood, staring at him intently. He seemed just as lost and confused about his feelings as Harry felt.

"Umm… Good morning, everyone," said a voice not far from them. Harry looked up as everyone else turned around to face the new group that had arrived: Blaise Zabini, Cho Chang, and Penelope Clearwater. Penelope was the one who had spoken, standing beside the couple with a bag draped over her shoulder in the same colors as her St. Mungo's uniform with the name and symbol of the hospital.

"Oh, good morning, Miss Clearwater," Minerva said. "Mr. Zabini and Miss Chang. I have already looked over Mr. Malfoy and Miss Greengrass if you would like to go ahead with them."

"Alright, thanks, Professor," Penelope said. She turned to the two, surprise clear on her face. "Well, why don't we take this inside?"

Daphne nodded, her face looking redder than normal as she turned and shuffled back into the cabin with Draco behind her and Penelope following. Blaise and Cho took each other's hands and walked closer, standing to where they had a good view of what was happening inside of the cabin through the open door and what was going on with the group outside and surrounding Harry.

Draco and Daphne sat side-by-side on the couch while Penelope pushed the coffee table to the side and pulled the chair forward so that she could sit in front of them both. "How are you both feeling today?" Penelope asked while digging around in her bag.

"Mortified," Daphne mumbled.

Penelope laughed. "Physically?"

"Same as usual," Daphne replied. "Umm… A bit feverish, nausea, mild headache… A bit of soreness and irritation where everything is… Sprouting feathers," she muttered.

"Mhm," Penelope said. "Mr. Malfoy?"

"'Bout the same," Draco replied.

"Anything else? I noticed you were walking with a bit of a limp," Penelope said, glancing up in time to see Draco's face burn bright red. Daphne eyed him questioningly. They could hear Harry the dragon laughing outside… Though to the humans it sounded a bit odd, but Draco knew what it was. Draco gritted his teeth and glared out of the window where he could only see Harry's tail. "Shut it, Potter!" He called out. He then sighed and turned back to Penelope. "Just a bit sore, nothing to do with my condition."

"Well…Alright, then," Penelope said. "If you're sure—"

"I am," Draco said.

"Okay," said Penelope. "Let me see…"

"Clearwater," Severus said from the doorway. "Minerva would like me to remind you to check their magical cores…She did herself, but she figures a healer would be able to determine any disturbances better than she."

"Okay, thank you," Penelope said. "Let's go ahead and do that, then, shall we?" She brought out her wand and performed the quick spell that gave both of her patients a strange glow and another that brought forward a circle of light in front of their chests. Instead of the pure white that most normal, healthy cores showed, they were slightly different. Most disturbances in magic would show an off white color or even very pale yellows or blues or greens. Nothing was "tainting" their magic, though. There was only another colored circle seeming to twist and braid into the white circle. The one around Draco's was a very vivid purple color while Daphne's was a very beautiful crimson color. It was unlike anything Penelope had ever seen. "Charlie!" Penelope called out to her boyfriend's brother.

Charlie Weasley walked into the room a few seconds later. "Yeah?"

"You've seen a dragon's magical core, haven't you?" Penelope asked.

"Yeah. Sometimes if something's really off we'll get a healer in to check things… Why?" Charlie asked, moving forward. "Oh wow," he said, spotting the circles.

"Is that the color of a dragon's magical core?" Penelope asked, motioning to Draco's.

"Y… Yeah… It is," Charlie asked, staring dumbfounded at it.

"Wow," Penelope said, shaking her head. She scooted her chair closer to get a better look. The purple glow stood out strongly. It was nothing more than a projection, a little test that showed what the magical core inside of someone looked like. To be showing some physical changes to resemble a dragon was one thing, but for him to have two different cores warping together like that? Penelope had never even heard of this… But Hermione and Severus had both assured her that it was a strange and unique situation. Shaking her head, Penelope leaned in closer to Daphne's. "And I suppose we can assume that red is what the phoenix's would look like… There doesn't seem to be any taint or disfiguration other than… That," Penelope remarked. "I'll run a few more tests, but I'm pretty sure that's all we really need to know. I don't think anything else will give us more than that."

Penelope ran a few more tests checking for human illnesses and even consulted a book she brought with her to check for any diseases dragons or phoenixes could have. While she did that Minerva stood outside performing many of the same tests she had run on Draco and Daphne. When she finished those and confirmed that Harry had performed the Animagus spell she did what she could to try to force him back into his human form. There was a spell that could force Animagi to return to their human form, but the bigger the form or the greater the change the harder it was, and as Harry not only changed into something more than ten times his human size, but a magical beast, it was extremely hard. They did notice some change, such as his eyes looking a little less purple and a few of his spikes seemed to flop over a bit, looking like they might turn into hair, but that was the extent of things and Minerva was left stumbling back, steadied by Hermione and sweating and out of breath.

"Would it help if a large group of people attempted the spell at the same time?" Hermione suggested. "Or would it do more harm than good?"

"While it might help get more of a change, I wouldn't risk having too many try it. Too many spells cast upon one person can do damage to them. Even if it is nothing particularly dangerous."

"That's what I thought," Hermione said, sounding disappointed.

"The fact that we saw any change at all is a good sign," Minerva promised her. "It's only going to take a lot more than I had hoped."

"Are you certain, Minerva?" Severus asked quietly.

Minerva blinked in surprise at her old colleague. Obviously she didn't know of Harry and Severus's relationship. "One can never be entirely sure, but I have the utmost faith that we will succeed… One day."

One day. Somehow it didn't seem very promising to them.

"I do have a few ideas… I'll see if I can work them out a bit more with this new information," Minerva went on.

"Maybe I can help," Penelope said, walking out of the cabin with Draco following her. Daphne was still sitting on the couch looking hopeless. "Do you mind if I check Harry's magical core really quick?"

"Go ahead," Minerva allowed with a nod, backing up. Penelope stepped up and performed the spell, bringing forward the circle. It was a perfect circle with the same braiding the others had shown, only the white of his wizard's magic looked stained, hints of very pale purple mingling in with it. The braid also seemed tighter and the white almost overwhelmed by the purple.

"Draco and Daphne's looked similar," Penelope explained to the group. She stepped forward to give them a better view of the circle. "See this? A normal, healthy wizard or witch would have a perfect circle and it would be pure white. Disturbances can occur within the color or the shape," Penelope explained. "It would take too long to explain what the color and shape represent, but… What this is showing for all of them is two separate brands of magic and they are wrapped around each other like this." She wove her hand in and out of the circle, her arm passing through the glow easily, as it was just for show. She moved her finger around, motioning to the twirling. "The white in theirs is their human magic. Part-humans have something similar," Penelope explained. "That might be our ideal. Anyway, a part human would have the white circle, and just around it you would see a different color outlining it, which would represent the other 'part' of them. I believe to have the two colors doing that, with one outlining the other would be the preference. The white would have to be the inner circle. The fact that the two different magics are merging is showing up in the core by showing this. How to undo it… I have a few ideas. But in Harry's it is showing where his human magic is being changed by the dragon magic and how powerful it is, which is probably why he's stuck this way. We're going to have to work at cleaning up his human magic and then on separating the cores… It's going to be very complicated and a long process, but… I do have a few ideas. Maybe we can discuss what we both had in mind, Professor?"

"Of course," Minerva said. "I was thinking a routine of having a few individuals at a time performing the Relinquo Animagus spell every day might be enough to undo the Animagus transformation eventually. I also hoped to coach him through how many people go about changing into and out of the Animagus transformation, as well."

"Good," said Penelope. "That sounds brilliant. We should do that but I also want to coach him through mediating and giving him potions that are designed to help the magical core. The biggest factors are the magical core and the Animagus transfiguration. I find myself rather skilled when it comes to dealing with magical core healing, though I'll need to consult some books in animal healing, as well… But I think if we can focus on all of that we might actually pull this off."

"And once we help Harry we can help the others," Hermione said brightly.

"Exactly," Penelope and Minerva said at once. They then began speaking with one another about setting up daily exercises and such things for Harry and the prospect of having to teach the others a few things to get their help. It involved a great deal of different things, including some very powerful and complicated magic, but the two women were excited and hopeful that they had what it took to pull it off. Hermione even came up to join in the conversation after following it for a few minutes, offering what she could to the discussions.

Everyone else was quiet, taking it all in. It seemed like so much they would have to do and some of them didn't even fully understand what they were talking about. Harry didn't understand anything other than the fact that he was going to get help. Severus understood a bit about both Transfiguration and magical core properties, but didn't have the mastery the others did and was too caught up in his own mind to focus on their conversation. They might actually help and he might actually get his Harry back… And it seemed too good to be true. Charlie felt a bit lost, as he didn't understand much about what they were talking about, and felt a bit useless for not being more help. He was a bit excited that they were apparently going to be able to help everyone… That was it, right? They did say they were going to be able to do this. Draco felt terrified and thrilled at the same time. They might help Harry, yes, but it was going to take a long time and a lot of work and what if they failed anyway, despite their hopes?

It was a lot for everyone to take in.

"So… We're going to be okay?" Harry asked Draco.

"They seem to think so," Draco replied, though he didn't sound so sure. His lack of confidence brought Harry down a bit and he frowned as he watched the three women talk.

"Are you sure you even want to change back?" Harry asked teasingly, hoping to lighten the mood for them both. "Charlie likes dragons."

"Shut up, Potter," Draco growled, face burning bright red.

"So how did that happen?" Harry asked curiously. He felt so excited still by the idea of getting things fixed, but it wasn't doing him good trying to listen in on the women plan everything out. He didn't get half of it anyway. He was so anxious and he really needed something else to focus on to calm down… Pestering Draco about Charlie was sure to do the trick.

"Why should I tell you? We're not friends, Potter," Draco snapped.

"We could be," Harry said easily despite himself. Draco wasn't so bad, Harry had learned, and he wasn't worried about looking weird to the other man. He felt confident that they could get along okay… They hadn't really fought since their first few days being able to communicate this way. "Besides, you could use someone to talk to… That can't tell anyone else. Unless you're worried about the other dragons gossiping about you."

"All of the other dragons were taken back to Romania anyway," Draco reminded him, face a bit pink. "Fine, we got drunk and we fucked in my bathtub. Happy?"

"No. Where are the details?" Harry demanded.

"You don't need details. I'm afraid to know what a dragon's like when it's randy," Draco said with a smirk.

"I am not an 'it'," Harry scoffed. "And what makes you think thinking about you and Charlie will get me all worked up?"

"It's sex and you've been without for five years," Draco reminded him. "Wait… You have been without, haven't you?"

"Of course! I wouldn't betray Severus that way… Besides, it's not like I have… ANY options," Harry reminded him dryly.

Draco chuckled. "Of course."

"So… What about Severus?" Harry asked quietly, glancing to the man in question. Both Severus and Charlie had their attention on Harry and Draco. Draco flushed at the realization and was glad that only he and Harry could understand this conversation.

"Haven't you asked this question before?" Draco asked. Harry gave him a look and Draco sighed. "Severus hasn't dated anyone. He didn't even screw around until recently. He just got so mad at you he started screwing everyone he could. He was hurt, though, and angry, so don't get mad at him."

"I'm not," Harry said, though the knowledge was like a punch to the gut. He felt sick at the thought of Severus with anyone else and he knew whoever they were, he wanted to rip them to shreds and knew he had the actual ability to do so. He was tempted to ask for names. "I get it… Just one of those many things we're going to have to talk about and work through once everything is… Right again."

"Do you really think they'll be able to fix you?" Draco asked.

"I hope so," Harry said. "I trust McGonagall and Hermione. I know Penelope's pretty smart, too… I have faith in everyone who is working to help me… A lot of very talented and very smart people. I may not know much about anything they're talking about, but… I don't know. I'm sure they'll find something."

"You Gryffindors have too much faith in people," Draco laughed.

"And you Slytherins need to have more faith in people," Harry shot back. He frowned and looked to Severus. "You don't suppose he'd like to go for a fly, do you?"

Draco barked out laughing at that one, imagining his godfather riding a dragon. "I don't know," he said, then turned to Severus. "Severus! Harry wants to know if you want to go for a ride on him."

Severus blinked and looked slowly from Draco to Harry, staring deeply at his lover for a long moment. Harry swallowed hard and shifted around nervously. Of course, this made a lot more ruckus and gathered a lot more attention than it had when he was human… But the very Harry action made Severus smirk. He really was his Harry.

"I don't think that would be wise," Severus said after a few minutes. He frowned and slowly backed away. He didn't like the way things were going now, how much his feelings were changing. "I should probably go back to the office."

"Oh, no, you don't," Hermione said, breaking away from the conversation to beckon him forward. "We need you. Sorry, Harry, but this is for you."

Harry nodded, though he felt a bit hurt by Severus's rejection. Severus frowned, but nodded curtly and walked over to join the group in their discussions. Draco frowned, too, and watched his godfather a moment before stepping closer to Harry and patting him awkwardly on his front leg. Charlie slowly approached them and did the same from his other side, more skilled at soothingly stroking the dragon's scales.

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A/N: Please review! 


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